THE MYSTERIOUS BLUE liquid has been a feature of ads for feminine hygiene products since time immemorial.
The poor brands were just trying to spare our blushes, yes, but when people are hurt in films or on TV they don’t leak blue liquid. People who have periods certainly know that’s not what happens to them every month.
So why all the song and dance about a bit of blood? Why imply that it’s simply too shocking to even be acknowledged?
Bodyform were the first brand to wake up to this, making an ad showing a woman sticking a pad on her knickers, and now they’ve gone a step further.
The company’s new digital advert features – gasp – an actual sanitary pad with some red, blood-like liquid on it:
The red liquid in the test-tube is the most striking moment, but there are also scenes of blood running down a woman’s leg as she showers, and a man popping to the shop to pick up supplies:
All pretty standard events in the life of menstruating person.
Some people won’t like the ad’s frank approach, but the fact is period stigma still very much exists in Ireland and abroad – a 2016 report by the brand Lil-Lets found that a third of Irish teenagers felt confused about their first period, with 44% saying they didn’t get enough education on the subject.
Anything that shows periods as they are, without shame, can only be a good thing.
