Tampon-makers can't mention the V-word. Period.

[proud2BlibKansan]

An advertising campaign for tampons is rejected by US television networks for daring to include the word vagina

Just don't say vagina: the acceptable version of the tampon ad.

For years, advertising for tampons and "sanitary products" have been shrouded in nebulous euphemism. So what happens when a US tampon-maker drops the coy messaging and goes straight for the jugular (so to speak)? Its ad gets banned by the major US television networks for mentioning the word vagina.

Even when the company substituted "down there" for vagina, two of the networks still wouldn't run the ad, so the company was forced to drop the idea altogether. That provoked Amanda Hess, author of The Sexist blog, to observe: "Now, the commercial contains no direct references to female genitalia – you know, the place where the fucking tampon goes."

An executive for Kimberly-Clark, the owner of Kotex, notes that US TV networks have no such compunction about references to "erectile dysfunction" in prime-time ads for Viagra and Ciallis.

The New York Times reports that the campaign – produced by the advertising agency JWT, part of WPP – for tampon brand Kotex was "a bit too frank" for US television:

more . . . http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/mar/16/tampon-vagina-kotex-advertising

[a la izquierda]

1. oh for the love of god....

VAGINA, VAGINA, VAGINA!
There.

[awoke_in_2003]

34. It smells like perfume. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

37. just in case my humor failed

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8076998

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

65. See, nobody spontaneously died. No nuclear warfare. It's fine. n/t

[el_bryanto]

2. And you posted the v-word here at DU?

Can you imagine the "resident evil" like horrors you will inflict on society when DUers read that evil, evil word?

Bryant

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Here I'll do it again

VAGINA

[el_bryanto]

10. Oh no!

"Every dead body that is not exterminated, gets up and kills. The people it kills, get up and kill"

You have doomed us all!

Bryant

[cliffordu]

48. Never met one I didn't immediately like.

[hobbit709]

3. Much less the blue liquid absorbency results.

[Orrex]

4. In fairness, I've never heard the word "penis" in a commercial, either

And we all know that The Penis is the source of strength, joy, and economic prosperity.

[progressoid]

27. Nor the word "anus"

[jberryhill]

29. And certainly not both in the same commercial! /nt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

50. however, if you look closely, you'll see it cleverly HIDING

ANUSOL

[Critters2]

58. !

LOL!

[progressoid]

70. Ah yes. And lets not forget...

Maybe Viagra should be renamed something like Penigrow. :shrug:

[BlancheSplanchnik]

77. HAAAHHH!!!! Oh geez, have you ever got that right!

:rofl: !!!!!


what a frikken name -- Vagisil---JEEZ!!

love how "women's products" always have the word, "ODOR" plastered all over, too. Yes indeedy, makes a woman feel real good.

[Arkansas Granny]

47. And yet the words penis and vagina can be used in situation comedies

during prime time and no one bats an eye.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

53. yep! Usually used an insult. Sooo snarky. I guess using 'vagina' as a vile epithet

confers the mantle of cleverness upon the speaker.

Calling a guy a "vagina" is the KEWL insult now.


'Penis' had its trend a few years ago; you could just see the damn writers doing contortions trying to *insert* that naughty naughty word in every dialogue *hole* possible , but I don't remember it being used as a SLAP-DOWN the way 'vagina' is used.

I hate sit-coms

[Bluenorthwest]

99. Please, cite a prime time netword sit com where the word

vagina or penis is used as an insult. Name one. Not from your imagination, from a prime time situation comedy. I doubt you can, as that is outside the Standards and Practices of all broadcast networks. So cite one. You claim to remember many of them. Name a show.

[Beartracks]

91. Oh, I'm sure there's people batting their eyes somewhere. n/t

[fortyfeetunder]

93. Those prime time Cialis and Viagra commericals

Make me wince, especially with a young'un in the house.
Though I am pretty open about talking about sex, I have not discussed these
commercials because for a while they weren't on in prime time.
Guess when they talk about the 4 hour thing, I'll pass the buck to Daddy....

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Nice pun.

[BailoutBill]

7. Naughty, naughty

Provincial BS.

[HereSince1628]

8. I heard that they wouldn't use the name Stifetra, of Liftra

wich is how we got the levitator---levitra

I also understand that Viagra wanted a woodpecker in its ads and that was rejected

[elehhhhna]

43. but one got thru that sounds like " See all this!"

[Homer Wells]

106. However, the 'Smiling Bob'

commercials get away with a hell of a lot of double-entendre references, and they are on almost every show I see on my TeeVee.

[harry_pothead]

9. .

[inna]

31. I'm pretty sure this image got deleted (or locked) on DU before.

Apparently, people found it offensive. Just saying.

[awoke_in_2003]

35. too bad...

I find a family that size to be offensive.

[AnArmyVeteran]

46. If they were clever they would use the word 'pussy' by using a cat somewhere in the ad...

[AnArmyVeteran]

78. What the hell is a vagina?

I've been divorced for awhile so I have no memory of what a vagina is. I have some vague recollections, but that's about it :(

( I remember I liked them very much )

[PBS Poll-435]

51. Nobody asks why the tallest child is so much taller than the mother and father

5+ inches...

[Cirque du So-What]

11. As a society, have we really progressed

that much past the Victorian era? I know, I know...we've had ads for Girls Gone Wild videos, although the bare breasts are highly pixellated, but when it comes to actual reproductive organs, advertisers are still a gaggle of prudes - and with good reason. There are still people in our society who would be sent reeling for the fainting couch at a clinical description of normal bodily functions.

[Gman]

12. What is left that is "a bit too frank" for TV?

What? Nothing I can think of that doesn't cross the line into porn.

[donco6]

26. Well, at least we can say "arm" and not "limb"

That's a step in the right direction huh? Baby steps, remember.

[stray cat]

13. For the record - I think most women don't need explicit details in Ads on how tampons work

but maybe they could show the process in a step wise fashion?

[enlightenment]

52. I agree.

We know where the tampon goes . . . but it might help to see an illustrated step-by-step on how to use it. I recall, as a teen, being coached by a friend (through the door of the stall) in a public loo. A rather appalling experience.

High time we showed the process to enlighten the masses. They don't even have to use words, since they offend. Just pictures.

[omega minimo]

63. However, US media companies want them to continue to be ashamed about "down there"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/mar/16/tampon-vagina-kotex-advertising

[TheMightyFavog]

14. Oy Gevalt....

Why did we get stuck with the damned Puritans and other assorted religious fanatics while Australia got the convicts? I think we would have been better off of things were the other way around.

[Toasterlad]

15. Stupid, Stupid Country.

[Orrex]

33. Out of curiosity, which other countries use the words "vagina" and "penis" in their commercials?

Probably a bunch of countries, since a lot of them already run hardcore porn after 11:00PM, but I don't know which ones might use "those" words in tv ads.

[Toasterlad]

40. I Have No Idea. I Only Know That Ours Doesn't, And That Makes Us a Stupid, Stupid Country.

[Gwendolyn]

55. I know I have a vagina and a tv spokesperson shouting it out doesn't make me feel more emancipated.

What I find weird is Kotex using some high-strung looking spokesmodel who looks like she's barely containing an eating disorder to tell me how stupid tampon commercials are, when they're the ones who put them out, slow-mo beach-dancing nymphs and all. Do they think women are completely brain-dead or have no long term memory.

And what are the big beefs supposedly?

1. The blue mystery fluid. Okay, well there are about 5,000,396 diff feminine hygiene products I have to peruse when I go to the store. Wings, no wings, thick pad, extra thin pad, mini, plastic applicator, purse size, etc. I like it when they give me a visual so I know which one is for night, for heavy days, etc. I can be in and out of the store in minutes.

2. I and everyone I know goes to a health club. It's important that I don't have embarrassing moments, and so if they show me some woman stretching in white skins, I know the claim is that I'm going to be safe to exercise. That's okay with me.

3. Back to the high-strung spokes model. I get terrible cramps and don't really want to look at a sour-faced young woman trying hard to appear sophisticated when she's selling me vaginal cotton batting. Give me humor and Mother Nature, and I will remember that when I'm at the store.

:thumbsdown: to kotex and their childish, condescending, hypocritical vagina commercial.

[Shell Beau]

85. Which brand is it that says have a happy period?

[Gwendolyn]

88. "Have a happy period" is Always I think, but don't know who the mother company is.

Proctor and Gamble probably. It's all so convoluted with the 80 million different flexi-weave this, wings that, it's hard to know who puts out what. There's probably some central factory where everything gets manufactured.

Mother Nature and her Gift is the commercial for Tampax Pearl, which is a pretty good product.

The best one of all does almost no advertising, but everyone who's used it swears by it. That would be O.B. Developed by a female gyno I believe, and she nailed it. Great product.

[Initech]

59. In France, Team America (yes the puppet sex movie) was advertised as a G-rated family film.

No, I am not making this up.

[omega minimo]

62. go to the link in the OP

[TwilightGardener]

16. Now, the erectile dysfunction ads don't say "limp useless penis", and we're all OK with that.

So I am OK with not hearing "vagina" every time I watch TV.

[BurtWorm]

17. Imagine the impact on sales if they used the phrase 'limp useless penis' on TV.ads

They'd skyrocket. (No pun intended.)

I don't know if 'bloody vagina' would have the same effect on tampon sales.

[TwilightGardener]

21. That would cut right to the quick, wouldn't it? No dancing around it.

But men should appreciate the companies' attempts to be discreet and clinical.

[seabeyond]

18. gonna agree. was gonna type out a post exactly like yours. tampon commercials do fine

selling their product without having to get graphic.

i am not particularly thrilled to have to address my boys penis being fine as is and they dont need a drug to make their penis better and bigger to satisfy a gal.

[TwilightGardener]

20. Yep, sometimes euphemisms are good. And blue "mystery fluid".

[tabasco]

44. LOL.

Pathetic.

[seabeyond]

60. ? nt

[HopeHoops]

19. "We can't mention the V-word, but our product isn't supposed to be shoved up your ass."

Taint that sort of thing.

[Skinner]

22. This strikes me as a clever guerilla marketing campaign.

Yes, it's absurd that they can't say "vagina" in an ad for tampons. But I think Kotex knew that and was hoping to stoke a controversy like this.

Watch the ad. (It's included with http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/mar/16/tampon-vagina-kotex-advertising">the article.) It's really clever and funny. The irony in the ad fits perfectly with this controversy. The tag line for the ad is: "Why are Tampon Ads So Ridiculous?"

They have to use "that blue liquid" and and you can't say vagina, either. See how neatly this controversy fits? It helps reinforce the message.

The irony. The sleek black packaging. The manufactured controversy. It seems to me that they know exactly who their intended audience is, and this is part of the marketing strategy. They're aiming for smart, young, cosmopolitan women. Bullseye.

[Echo In Light]

23. Uptighty righties abound. So incredibly revealing people can't say the "v" word

[Froward69]

24. Vagina Vagina Vagina!!!

I swear this country has such delicate sensibilities. it is a wonder we reproduce at all.

So when will they simply say "under-leg deodorant?" :evilgrin:

[tigereye]

25. just crazy... can't say the thing that every woman has.. what do they think

will happen? All women will be come pregnant instantly if they hear the very word? :rofl:


Or the idea that women menstruate- here's the product but we can't really say what's it's for?

[CTyankee]

38. I started a thread last October on bidets after my latest trip to Europe.

You would NOT BELIEVE the insulting posts I got! They were even trying to turn it into a sex thread to get it banned!

I was so appalled, so I am not surprised by some really strange reactions...

[Orrex]

42. I remember that thread, and your manner wasn't exactly charming, either

You basically started by asking why Americans are such pigs, and in the end you attributed it to rampant prudishness. Ultimately, as I recall, you wound up jamming your fingers in your ears and stomping your feet so that you wouldn't risk exposure to a number of thoughtful, well-considered replies. Specifically, Reply #18 in that thread is probably the best answer I've ever seen on DU.


It's been five months. It's time to move on. :eyes:

[CTyankee]

45. Wow, you are "remembering" a lot more than I did, right down to specifics...

sorry that set you off so vehemently, but I guess with your "interpretation" of my point and your invention of things I never said, anything is possible.

Interesting that you know exactly when that thread appeared...time to move on, indeed, Orrex. Have a good day.

[Orrex]

79. I bookmarked it because of the brilliance of reply #18

And I recall it because of the crazed hostility in the OP and follow-up posts. I wouldn't have remembered that it was yours if you hadn't mentioned bidets; if you'd simply said "I posted a thread in October and was surprised at how insulting some of the replies were," it wouldn't even have been a blip on my radar.

However, it didn't set me off "so vehemently," if that makes you feel any better. In fact, I posted only once in that thread, in reply to #18.


I'll send you the link, if you'd care to review it.

[CTyankee]

95. I WAS surprised by the vehemence opposing what I was saying.

It certainly mattered not to me if people didn't particularly care for the idea of a bidet or didn't have the space. But some people went off like rockets, as I recall (I don't bookmark stuff like that thread; I reserve it for stats, charts, etc.). Trying to insult all Europeans by saying they don't take showers and that's why they use bidets was a real squealer and as I recall there was a pushback on THAT. Also, some opposition got a little gross. It showed me something all right. A calm discussion about bidets probably isn't possible on an American discussion board, for while there are those who CAN discuss such things rationally, there appears to be those get crazed...

[Orrex]

96. Well, here's my suggestion:

Next time you're inclined to ask people how they clean their asses, don't start off by implying that they're pigs, and don't blame it on their prudishness.

I don't know how they do things in Europe, but some Americans don't take kindly to being called prudish pigs, believe it or not.

[CTyankee]

97. good lord, you sure use those gross out terms...just makes my point.

So here's MY suggestion: go to Europe and find out more about this simple, easy to use and perfectly sensible bathroom fixture and maybe, just maybe you will learn that it is not the gross, horrible, unclean fixture you envision it to be. After that, ask yourself "Hmm, wonder why we don't have these in the U.S.?"

[Orrex]

100. The funny thing is, you have no idea of what my opinion might be

What in the world makes you conclude that I think bidets are gross or unclean? I'd be very interested if you could point me to my post--anywhere on DU or on the entire internet--in which I've expressed an opinion one way or the other. You're simply declaring what my opinion must be, based on your own expectations and prejudices.

Given your immediate hostility here, it's little wonder that your OP in that thread equally generated a spate of heated replies, especially after you'd called Americans a bunch of prudish pigs. Or piggish prudes. Whichever you prefer.

[CTyankee]

105. Well, I don't think I used the term "pigs."

But, honestly, I had no idea I'd get the kind of response I got--in the more vehement responses, I don't mind at all being disagreed with--so I speculated on the responses. What on earth could engender such flaring emotions? I speculated that Americans seemed more prudish on certain matters than the Europeans, based on my experience with both cultures. For instance, I have seen some public service announcements on sexually transmitted diseases from France and from England that we would NEVER put on PSAs here. Also, I worked for Planned Parenthood (at the state level) for a number of years and encountered s surprising number of people who were grossed out and really mad if you used medically accurate terms for human genitalia. We sponsored a production of "The Vagina Monologues" and I got calls from some DONORS complaining. When I said "well, "vagina" is a correct word" I had a donor tell me "you shouldn't encourage it" (whatever that meant). And these were liberals! In sophisticated Connecticut, fer gawd's sake.

So you can see where I'm coming from...

[Atman]

28. But they can say "period" Question mark.

:rofl:

.

[Warren DeMontague]

30. They should just say "Smoke our crotch cigars!"

....what? :shrug:

[dem mba]

32. those network heads are a bunch of douches

u know douche? like for your vagina?

[QC]

36. How about "secret garden"? n/t

[Naturalist111]

39. Was that....

they can't mention the V-word during a period? :-)

[omega minimo]

41. so how will they refer to the arare-er-area?

perhaps "vessel" -- insert the plug into the vessel for full absorption.

[tblue37]

49. My favorite euphemistic behavior is when Jamie Lee Curtis

is discussing Activia yogurt in a commercial with a woman who keeps making a sweeping downward and outward movement over her abdomen to suggest how the yogurt works.

[havocmom]

80. Well, 'colon blow' just doesn't sit well when pushing creamy goodness

that roter-roots yer pipes. ;)

[Skip Intro]

54. I don't have a problem with this and I wish the Cialis and Viagra commercials would disappear also.

[spacelady]

56. I wonder who was the ad wizard who came up with the name

"Ass Effects" for heartburn (Aciphex)? They make sure and spell it in the commercial so no chance of confusion I guess.

[Initech]

57. Vagina. Men find it difficult and hard to say whereas without batting an eye...

A man will refer to his dick or his rod, or his "Johnson".

[omega minimo]

61. A lot of men can't say "woman"

[Gwendolyn]

64. I barely ever hear a man refer to his junk or equipment as a "penis."

I hear the euphemisms you and I mentioned. I barely ever say vagina and penis myself. They're clinical words for rather adorable parts. Therefore, I use all kinds of adorable euphemisms for my adorable part just as men do for theirs. In fact, we all seem to use euphemisms for each other's parts.

So why is it strange that a man wouldn't say vagina when most women don't, and neither really uses the word penis either? Does it make people more evolved to use the word vagina, while they say junk, dick, rod for male parts? I'm really missing something here.

[Initech]

66. That was actually a line from The Big Lebowski.

But you're right though - as a guy I never hear the word "penis" ever, I can however name just about every slang term for it in the book.

[Gwendolyn]

68. OMG I must be flogged. I LOVE the Big Lebowski. You're talking about Maude's speech!

:D

I should have caught that, since I've only seen it about five times. That was brill... and I think I may have to watch it again just for Julianne Moore.

[Initech]

74. ROFL! Yeah that was Maude's speech!

I was wondering how long it would be before someone caught that. :rofl:

[CTyankee]

67. When I worked for Planned Parenthood we had a sex educator on staff

who gave presentations to women called "How to talk to your child about sex." She said the women would almost uniformly NOT use the term "vulva." For some reason, "vagina" was considered OK, tho. And these were upper middle class, well educated women...go figure...:shrug:

[Gwendolyn]

71. That is VERY odd. Perhaps because the vulva has to do with sexuality...

whereas the vagina has other functions? If that's the case, hoo boy, that's extremely sad!

I hardly ever use the word myself because again, I don't often have clinically involved discussions and the euphemisms are cuter. I'd have to say that personally, I've probably used the word vulva as often as I have others like urethra, adenoids or spleen, meaning, almost never. It seems to be the case with the girlfriends as well. On the other hand, my husband often uses the word. Go figure. :D

[CTyankee]

72. maybe he likes it because it has a nice sound...like "velvet" only softer.

And since it is a place of pleasure, not procreation, it has a wonderful connotation. I kinda like it too...

[Gwendolyn]

73. That's exactly what he says CT. :-)

And maybe you've made a convert out of me today too. There are a few friends coming over for dinner and think this will make an interesting topic of conversation. Words conjure up all sorts of images for people, some of them delightfully poetic.

[CTyankee]

75. Oh, boy! I can hear the dinner table conversation: "I was thinking today about the word "vulva",

please pass the asparagus." Now THERE's an interesting ice-breaker!

Let me know how that goes over...I'm wondering if you're gonna feel the love on this one...

[Gwendolyn]

90. It turned out to be a great discussion! :-D

We all decided that vulva is lovely but also that scrotum is probably the ugliest word ever created. The consensus was that it sounds like something you scrape off the underside of your boat, or some version of a flesh-eating disease. We also agreed that the Kotex commercial is hypocritical and wouldn't have been improved with the use of the word vagina or the euphemism "down there."

AND we enjoyed dinner too.

[CTyankee]

94. Good! You have enlightened dinner guests!

I DO think there's a real difference in a commercial as opposed to one's child's sex education in medically accurate terms for their bodies...

[conspirator]

82. What does this have to do with my rug? nt

[Quantess]

69. What's a vagina?

[SocialistLez]

76. Flow-Check it out @ your local library

It's a great book that talks about menstruation and it has all these "retro" ads.
Pretty interesting book.

[tomm2thumbs]

81. you can say 'erection' because there's money in it - but 'vagina' is a money pit

maybe if tampons cost as much as the little blue pill and made money hands over fist, you'd hear it sung from the mountain tops!

"VAAAAA-GIIIIIIIIIIII-NA!!!!!"

[Shell Beau]

83. Well that makes perfect since. I've always put my tampons in my mouth!

WTF? Vagina is not a dirty word. It is in fact where tampons are placed. It is natural. Vagina is the better word to use. It is the clinical term. It is a body part that women are born with. Just like boobs. Last I checked, we could still say breast.

[madamesilverspurs]

84. Brought to us by the same mindset

that wouldn't allow the word "pregnant", that insisted that Lucy and Ricky slept in twin beds, that required that Elvis be filmed from the waist up.

Yeesh.


-

[DutchLiberal]

86. That's what comes from an 18th century mindset...

Seriously, if you told me this bit of news came from Saudi-Arabia, I would have believed it, too!

But based on this news, you wouldn't say America has entered the 20th century yet (yes, the 20th)!

[WinkyDink]

87. Excuse me, but "erectile dysfunction" is not the term for any male body part.

[blondeatlast]

89. NEWS FLASH: Female humans have vaginas, and clitorises, and--GASP--periods. Pass out those pearls

and push those couches in ASAP, gang! There's going to be an epidemic of rapid drops in blood pressure in 3-2...

[TorchTheWitch]

92. actually, "periods" is a euphemism as well

and is a cryptic way of referring to menstrual cycles. We are so accustomed to using the euphemism "periods" we don't even recognize it as a euphemism anymore.

[blondeatlast]

107. Good point. It does seem rather absurd to use such a cleaned-up,

unclinical word for something that until recently medically managed, made me bleed so much I had to have transfusions every month.

[Skidmore]

98. I don't care whether they mention it or not. I 'd rather they addressed

the issue of those damned plastic cartridges accummulating in the landfills.

[Enrique]

101. they can't say 'visitor'?

how can you advertise tampons without mentioning the monthly visitor?

[LanternWaste]

102. Good thing that languages contain...

Good thing that our language contains implications, synonyms, formalized signs, sounds and gestures that all mean the same things in common usage.

I imagine that some language may be considered very inappropriate in one context, and wholly appropriate in another. Much like almost everything we do or say...

[carlyhippy]

103. never mind

!

[AnArmyVeteran]

104. The US is backward compared to the enlightened Europe...

We can talk about every detail of a vacation we've been on, or about our lives, but not the first 'trip' we took through that 'one part' of the female body. Why is the US so backward compared to all the rest of the world, especially Europe?