EoB #3: "Feminine Hygiene Products"

^{[Author’s Note: The title of this post is very much tongue-in-cheek. You can read more about why terms like “feminine hygiene” are outdated here. I tried my best to navigate writing this week’s issue using intentionally inclusive language while also talking about products whose marketing campaigns are rooted deeply in stereotypical gender norms and roles. If you have feedback or suggestions, don’t hesitate to send me a note: [email protected].]}

In 2018 I read a tweet by Morgan Murphy that has since been deleted, but lives on forever in my heart:

This tweet is inextricably linked in my mind with a watershed moment in personal hygiene advertising because shortly after discovering it, I saw Billie’s mind-blowing campaign in which women used their razors on actual body hair.

Billie’s Project Body Hair was a leader in the new trend of dropping the innuendos around grooming and period products. But before we can dissect what’s changed we have to understand what the standard for advertising these products has been for the past hundred years.

Shame, Shame On You

While there were occasionally ads for period products before the 1900’s, the 1920s is when advertising became more common. While they increased in frequency, though, to the uninitiated the ads were inscrutable. “There is one uncomfortable social situation women are now spared.” says a 1929 Kotex ad. “No self-consciousness now, no fear of offending… There is none of that conspicuous bulkiness so often associated with old-fashioned methods.” Another ad leads with the terrifying headline “Your Allure… Don’t imperil it… Being fresh and charming every day has ever been the average woman’s problem.” I mean, emphatically yes, but also… what??

The 1920s increase in menstrual product advertising also coincided with the rise of the flapper trend, where women embraced sleeveless tops, swimsuits, and shortened hemlines. While shaving or waxing various body parts had come in and out of popularity for centuries, these clothing trends started a fire that brands were all too happy to dump gasoline on.

The first “women’s” razor (quotes because a sharp metal blade is a genderless product) was developed by Gillette in 1915. Because smooth skin hadn’t previously been the norm, at first razor and depilatory manufacturers had to figure out a way to convince women that they needed these products. They leaned into a classic strategy: shame. “You need not be embarrassed!” the ads told women. All you have to do is remove your unsightly and unfeminine armpit hair.

The 1960s marked the rapidly rising popularity of in-home television and the Golden Age of Advertising. But despite all of the money changing hands (or perhaps because of it), the National Association of Broadcasters was deeply uncomfortable letting certain products run ads on the air. Ads for menstrual products were explicitly banned by the NAB until 1972. Even after lifting the explicit ban, there were incredible amounts of restrictions preventing brands from discussing absorbency, anatomy, comfort, “insertion,” and more. Thus, the trope of girls in white, twirling on the beach or horseback riding, was born.

Who wears short shorts?

Things slowly evolved, reaching a bizarre detente in the 80’s and 90’s where brands straddled a line of being both explicit and incredibly vague. Ads were both more public about the products themselves (Courtney Cox said “period” in a Tampax commercial!) and more secretive about their real purposes. Tampons and pads, when shown on-screen at all, were pictured absorbing blue liquid, but so were diapers and paper towels. Fluoridated toothpaste was also blue, as was toilet bowl cleaner. “What exactly were these ‘hygiene products’ meant to be absorbing?” many pre-pubescent Millennial kids wondered.

Similarly, women’s hair removal products were full of innuendo. Men’s razor commercials showed guys at a sink shaving their 5 o’clock shadow. Women’s razor commercials showed the blades gliding over skin that was already completely hair-free. Girls who use Nair wear short shorts, but what the Nair had to do with it was a bit unclear. Nair even marketed their “Bikini” products using models in one-piece swimsuits, giving the cream’s purpose real IYKYK status.

Shave It Off (Taylor’s Version)

With this historical context, watching Billie’s models shave their legs, armpits, and TOES(!) was a revelation. Perhaps women didn’t have to be hairless goddesses with skin like a dolphin, gliding razors over their legs more for fun than for any real grooming purpose. Maybe having body hair was actually… normal?

I would like to believe that after this body hair ice-breaker, we entered a more accepting and educated era where these topics were treated as the scientific facts that they are. In reality, traditionally risk-averse legacy CPG companies were willing to be a little more direct when they saw how well it was working for smaller competitor brands like Billie, Thinx, and Knix. Regardless, within a few short years, we have started to get much more direct advertising across all kinds of products and brands.

Suddenly, period products don’t soak up Windex, they absorb red liquid. Brands make underwear for men who get periods. Women of all ages admit to using incontinence products. And Venus acknowledges that people use their razors for - gasp - pubic hair.

But not everyone is happy about this new direction. A small, but vocal, contingent complain any time red is used in the context of a period product or when a razor company shows the body parts that are being shaved. “You can be more discrete,” they argue. “It doesn’t have to be so explicit.”

What a girl wants, what a girl needs

So what are brands to do? To put it simply: ignore the pearl-clutchers.

Imagine if we sold anything else with the same vague language and imagery as period products. Rather than tight shots of a car racing up a mountain or scaling piles of snow and rocks, ads would show a carefree driver dancing in front of a really nice garage. Rather than talking about the horsepower and MPG, the announcer would quietly whisper “For the adult who wants to feel confident and secure, who’s always on the go - BMW offers you unique protection, comfort, and freedom, no matter the situation.”

Insanity.

Brands embracing the sometimes-less-than-pretty parts of being human normalizes the conversation for everyone. We don’t bat an eye at graphic ads for men’s products like E.D. medication; after all, a key piece of marketing is telling the buyer what the product is and how it works.

My hope is that these changes have a ripple effect beyond just tampons and razors. If we can talk about Viagra, body hair, and periods, maybe we can also get more comfortable talking about other concepts rooted in science and health, like breast exams and colon cancer screenings. It would be a shame to let the shame win.

A Quick Favor

I debated whether to deep-dive on this topic this week. My concern was that half of my readers would tune out and skip this week’s newsletter because they don’t use period products or razors marketed to women, and wouldn’t want to read about them. I chose to write about all of this anyway because that’s sort of the point: to stop worrying about offending people and normalize these topics for everyone.

If you’ve made it this far, could you click this button to let me know?

^{(You’ll get a cute puppy pic as a reward.)}

If the What’s Happening To My Body? book was just links

• Period brands test product absorbency using saline and water, not blood, even though the liquids have different viscosities and particle densities. This very dumb decision by CPG brands impacts both the way doctors understand menstrual disorders and the way people with periods know which products to buy. 🥴 (Shoutout to my friend, Lisa, for sharing this earth-shattering info with me!)

• Billie turned the exhausting societal pressures of womanhood into “a Monopoly-like board game” called No Worries If Not. I’m debating whether I want my go-to game piece to be the dog in a baby stroller or the sad desk salad. (They also have a body hair book for kids that I’ll be getting for my niece.)

• If you actually remember Courtney Cox saying the word “period” in a Tampax commercial, you probably need to talk to your doctor about routine colon cancer screenings. Read Anne Helen Petersen’s incredible Welcome to Colonoscopy Land, then reject the shame, and schedule your appointment.

• If your inner flapper is feeling rebellious, you can dye your underarm hair. Labor Day is less than 3 weeks away - get growing if you want to make a statement on your last beach weekend of the season.

• Yet again, Gen Z will save us all.

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