The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

I totally agree Rob. At the very best, this is a tacky ad for the entire pad category, not Kotex – “who have fuck all interesting to say about themselves”. Spot on.

this is why i think advertising is in the shit, too many planners and creatives are doing what the fuck they want without any regard to who they are talking to or the issues those people may or may not have.

i agree with you rob and you know how fucking rare that is. this is post rationalised bullshit where the person opening their stupid gob doesnt realise what they are saying.

we have an ad thats not subtle in any fucking way being justtified by an “insight” that says this is an issue people like to talk around rather than about so what do the fucks do, they use a rehashed joke from the 70’s. i bet they thought using a cat would be too obvious and this is far more sensitive, the fucking wankers.

and i bet a female wrote the ad. i dont believe a guy would be able to get that through but a woman? yeah much easier.

itll be a spot that does the youtube rounds and it might make kotex a brand thats more in the heads of certain women but for addressing the issues they say are so important to females, this does fuck all and i hate that they try and claim it does.

thats whats wrong with too many planners, they dont fight they just smooth things over and for all the pain in the fucking ass you can be (then theres george) you at least understand whats really going on in peoples heads and lives.

all output from an agency should also be an “ad” for the agency who created the work for the client, but when they start to just give a shit about themselves and not the people or the client then its the fucking worst and proves they are a company who have little ability to impress when they are forced to work within certain parameters.

if this was a spoof id like it but as an ad, i want to kill the fuckers who did it.

good fuckig post rob, glad youve stopped trying to be an arty farty shit.

Last time I looked “down there” I was a woman so I might be better placed to comment on this even if you are all smart and hunky men 🙂

I don’t mind the ad, it raised a smile from me but I agree with what you’re saying, especially where young girls are concerned because it’s something I lived through as well.

I’d rather not go into the details but I developed quite young so for a while I lived in fear of anyone being able to “tell” what was happening to me. My mum was great but I still felt like a freak because none of my friends were there yet so I became obsessed with making sure the male members of my family didn’t know my “secret”.

The problem with pad advertising on television was that it seemed intent on humiliating me, making me squirm or worse, telling my lovely naughty brother that there was something going on that he could tease me about.

This is an issue that would be healthier if it was brought out into the open, but only to a female audience and that’s the problem with TV spots because they are not gender specific.

I’m fine with the ad but it has nothing to do with taking on a tabboo subject or the insight they are saying its based on, it’s about the agency and the brand trying to be cool to 20 somethings who as the song goes, just wanna have fun.

Hate that shot with the beach boys though, it’s almost creepy.

That’s it from little me.

Jx

Putting aside Billy’s childish ramblings for a second – I am glad this post is getting proper comments, it’s an issue I think is very important.

As for what I’d do Pete – well you are right, the role of communication is as much to impress the trade as it is to actually connect with customers – however in this category, different channels should be used for different purposes which is why I would use television in a way that ‘only women would understand’ – where there is no blatant sell, infact no branding at all – and do work in other channels [that are truly women only] that explain what our national television ads are about and why.

We actually have a whole campaign all done and ready to go – it’s been tested [against young and twenty something women] and gone through with flying colours, even the trade bought into the concept and the media choices – the problem was/is the ego of the client, which if I was a shareholder, I’d complain about.

1. Get your hand off it everyone.
2. Yes, TV advertising isn’t the right thing for this category.
3. But fuck, as as a chick, I’m thrilled to see something other than someone riding a horse on a beach or windsurfing, “because they can”. I think many women would like this and at least it gets a response, even if it won’t sell product.
4. John, of course this has been done for other body parts – there was a cracker one done for the stomach once that had a blue fluffy creature as the analogy, can’t remember it.
5. I am constantly astounded by how CRAP Australia V/O artists are!!!! Just appalling, ruins the whole thing.

Well going totally against the grain, I like it, I posted it and said as such. I want advertising to entertain me and while I understand I’m not the target audience a light hearted approach can win people over from every segment of the market.

At the end of the day I love stuff with little furry animals in so that’s what sold it to me.
If you over analyse everything you strip any enjoyment right out of it.

and if you love stuff with furry animals charlie, why dont you go and play with richard gere

do you work for mccaans?

There’s analysing to ensure something is effective, even if that’s just entertaining, and there’s over analysing which is what wankers do…

liking your anger levels at this minute Mr. Boucher. Are you “on”?

Angus – I meant gender specific body parts obviously. The cottons ad is great for exactly that reason, it focusses on the symptoms and emotions not the physiology. And this is not a case of over-analysis (on this blog – youve got to be kidding) it’s just a gut reaction to the playground mentality of the piece. But I know this won’t stop you calling me a wanker. Nothing has so far.

and in one comment i fuck up my carefully crafted sensitive man image

Not at all Marcus – some of us are clearly intuitively brilliant

Your image is secure Andy.

I have to agree with Andy on this one…we sell or else

If ever a client wants just to do something funny about tampons, just get them to buy the rights to the Seinfeld episode about tampons..this definitely is not sponge worthy…

I’ve checked, I really do have haemoriods.

Charlie – you have no idea what you just laid yourself open to.

im not saying it wont sell tampons angus even if they offer no discernable reason why a woman should swap brands, im saying it isnt true to the bollocks they claim is the reason behind the spot and as such wont appeal to young girls who are going through one of the most confronting and emotional times of their lives.

problem is too many people forget the shit they went through as kids (or dont want to remember it) which is why we end up with rollerskating chicks or beavers in tampon ads when the real business need in this category is to “get them young” as the majority stay with the first brand they find “comfortable” which in terms of getting them to trial, is going to be a brand that resonates with them not a brand that publicises an issue they want to keep to themselves.

our pitch went very well thanks for asking and youre safe for today charlie because im too fucking knackered to embrace the rather large holes of “humour opportunity” you laid out infront of me.

happy easter fuckers 🙂

i haven’t read all the comments, ‘cos i’m on holidays. but rob (and age) you know how i feel about the ad. (see age’s blog for my responses). i find it so fucking weird that the ad has been banned here. and i find it really strange (or perhaps quite typical) that it’s the blokes on here that are appalled by the ad and not the girls. hmm….

It’s been banned?

That’s mad – and for what justification?

I think what Andy wrote is bang on – it is not offensive to women who have established their monthly period merry-go-round – however for young girls who aren’t comfortable with talking about periods [which, lets remember, is their justification for the ad] it is very confronting – and not in a positive way.

Trust me, this has nothing to do with men finding it offensive because I don’t think we do – at least interms of execution – what is pissing me off is the poor representation and reasoning behind the making of the spot.

Lets remember, they ‘claim’ the insight behind this spot was …

“Young women were more comfortable in talking about the issues when euphemisms were made”

However a beaver isn’t a euphamism, it’s an unsubtle visual gag which shows they’re either talking bollocks, the ad is really aimed at people who don’t find it hard to talk about periods or they are just going for shock in the hope it makes them famous.

I got the same sort of shit thrown at me when I did Tango and Super Noodle in the UK – however I never claimed the ads were about flying the flag for deeply personal subjects that too many people find hard to talk about.

It’s Easter – I should be eating choccies rather than talking about periods – so lets leave it there till next week, but thanks to all for their comments, it’s been an enjoyable read.

Happy Easter …

I always thought a beaver was a metaphor but then again I’m more into otters recently ;

Where are you Campbell. I’ve been trying to call.

Isn’t the point that the insight was valid but the execution chose to ignore it?

By focussing on the euphemistic, they just reinforces the avoidance behaviour they’ve uncovered. Far better surely (but far harder of course) to produce something that makes people (of both genders) less uncomfortable to address the issue in non-euphemistic terms.

And I think I’d disagree with some other commenters – if you can create something that does this, then television is exactly the place for it because of the wider social impact it could potentially have. Sometimes it seems to be me that saying television is not right is predicated on the presumption that you can’t produce something that works on television rather than the medium itself being inappropriate. But what do I know about your crazy ad world?

P.S. Charles I think herbivore was the word you were looking for.

On behalf on all 1970’s comedians, I apologise for Andy’s ‘joke’ 🙂