So like most of my posts, this one is talking about a topic that was discussed and dealt with an age ago, however a while back, this ‘ad’ was doing the rounds and was getting lots of praise from the creative community …
I must admit, when I first started watching it, I was laughing a lot.
And then I saw at the end, it was promoting a real brand and my smile turned to a frown.
Why?
Well, for one reason really – I don’t think it’s going to appeal to young girls.
Especially – and potentially exclusively – young girls who have just started their period.
A long time ago, I spent a fascinating year of my life listening to Mum’s and their daughters talk about periods.
While there were a whole range of opinions and learnings, the one thing that really stood out was how the daughters didn’t like to see tampon ads on television, or any medium where they may accidentally see it with their fathers or brothers in the room.
The fact is, for young girls, periods are full of angst, worry and concern … not helped by the plethora of myths, legends and innuendo that exist … so they would rather be spoken to privately than via a medium that screams at everyone.
While you could argue this spot takes the ‘taboo’ out of the issue of periods [which was the excuse was for this ad, even though this was a smarter way of standing out while being resonant], the reality is the only people who would say that are in adland industry because if anyone spent any time understanding what was going on in complicated and conflicted minds of young girls, you too would be left wondering who this ad was aimed at because the last person it’s going to convince is a young girl entering womanhood.
Funny?
Yes, for an adult.
Resonant?
For a young girl, probably less so.
And if anyone calls it ‘brave’, they’re totally missing the point of our job and the audience.
There is a lot of work that can be, and should be, done in this category … work that can truly challenge category conventions … but the irony is mainstream advertising is probably the last thing you should do because while it appeases the retailers who hold the key to distribution [which I appreciate is also very important], the irony is this approach ends up creating more issues and concerns in the heads of the very people it’s designed to connect with.
And yet I would lay money it will win a ton of creative awards next year.
Says a lot about what we value as an industry.