Mid- March of 2010, Kimberly-Clark’s daughter company Kotex released an entirely new line of feminine-care products. Although it is quite common for companies to expand their brand by reinventing themselves and their products, U by Kotex sought after much more than that; they’ve aimed at pulling down the taboo curtain of female health care.
The ads are hard to miss. As an active consumer of all things media I knew that the second this campaign launched, the internet would soon be dizzy with
YouTube response videos, blog commentaries, news editorials and hefty reviews from major feminist media camps. Kotex’s marketing strategy had worked. Both ads for U by Kotex demonstrate the direct address method to its audience, which assists in communicating a sense of superiority on the subject.
In the
first commercial, the audience observes a “real” girl taking a wry approach in discussing her feelings towards the typically euphemistic feminine care advertisements. By using the interactive mode of television, wherein an interviewee appears to be looking off camera at an interviewer, this demonstrates a sense of realism to its audience. The campaign hopes to succeed in viewers to think, “This is looks like a news editorial interview or documentary, so I believe in what she’s saying.” The actress, almost expressionless, goes on to mock typical ads that follow athletic girls in white clothing dancing on the beach, stretching in yoga class, smiling and laughing with friends and acting as if getting your period is the greatest thing to happen to them – well, no thanks to this brand of tampons! Of course dancing, smiling and wearing white aren’t typical behaviors of menstruation and have nothing to do with crying, cramping and breaking out. The reason this works is because the product is addressing its hopeful consumers as media literate and very aware of the thick line that lies between tampon campaigns, historically, and the realities of their bodies behavior.
The
second ad, as mentioned earlier, is also a direct address demonstrating expertise and knowledge to its viewers. The commercial, following a woman self-described as racially ambiguous with beautiful hair, parodies almost every female health and beauty commercial on television. By revealing advertisers secrets to the medium and tearing apart the classical and typical structure of the subject matter’s campaigns, it becomes very self-reflexive and self-aware of it being a commercial with the only intention of selling you a feeling and a lifestyle. This works for the same exact reason as the first commercial. The audience knows that the lead actress in the commercial represents an unrealistic standard of westernized beauty. They are tired of being pressured to look, dress and act like every portrayal of the female body on television.
As described on Consumerist.com, Kotex “panders to women’s desire to feel like they’re not being pandered to.” (Popken, 2010) This campaign may be the wake-up call to all feminine care product advertisements to stop packaging a period like a birthday present, but it still functions and aims for the same end as every other companies marketing strategy, just different means. The subtext of the commercials is that, “Hey, we’ve owned up to the smoke we were blowing, but no one else is. We stand out. We’re different now. Buy our tampons. Please.” Of course, not in those exact words but Kotex, like every other product floating in the dark sea of consumerism, is on the hunt for their orange life-jacket to keep them afloat and keep them standing out. Their approach is more head-on and creative in the sense that is sort of Meta in the way it deconstructs itself. (Newman, 2010) Andrew Meurer, VP of Kimberly-Clark remarks on their guilty role in portraying woman having euphoric menstrual experiences in their ads. In fact, the clips show in the first commercial that aired, mocking girls twirling and jumping, are scenes directly taken from their own advertisements. Meurer explains, “Look at what we’ve done in the past.” (Newman, 2010) In a time where corporate bail-outs are as common as sunshine in California and major company’s like GM, are using their CEO’s in their ads to regain the trust of American consumers, it only seems natural that other campaigns would soon follow in their footsteps. Kotex neither necessitated nor received a bailout but it did use its own ah-ha moment to their benefit. By being the first to respond to years of harsh critique over the obnoxious ad campaigns by most feminine care product companies, Kotex definitely has the leg-up and according to Mark Buthman, Chief Financial Officer of Kimberly-Clark, the time, money and energy spent on U by Kotex marketing will only benefit the company. They are already predicting a 4% to 6% sales increase by the end of the fiscal year. (Reuters, 2010)
As a benefit for the consumer, the U by Kotex line sells for slightly cheaper than most other popular brands, saving about .25 cents to .75 cents depending on store, location and sale prices. The packaging colors fall far from pale blues, whites and yellows and instead offer a more sassy collection of bright, “bold lipstick colors.” (Newman, 2010) Not only can one feel great about purchasing a product that is honest with itself and its consumers but it offers an outlet for young women to discuss the realities of their biological mechanics on their interactive website,
UbyKotex.com. “Declaration of Real Talk” is a soundboard for women who wish to tackle the taboo of menstruation in American society. Its goal is to create and instill an everlasting confidence in women concerning their health and their body image. “For every signer on ‘Declaration of Talk,’ Kotex will donate $1 to
Girls For Change, a national non-profit organization that pairs urban teenage girls with professional women to encourage social change.” (Newman, 2010) For consumers, this is a convenient way to feel like they are participating in a mini social revolution. Not only are consumers letting others know they’re aware of the realities of their period but by choosing Kotex brand over other brands they are also contributing to a charitable cause that supports young women.
Kimberly-Clark’s VP, Andrew Meurer says it best: “We’re changing our brand equity to stand for truth, transparency and progressive vaginal care.” (Newman, 2010) Perhaps, Kotex has finally found its life-jacket.
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT - It's unbelievable how terrified some people are of the word
tampon. ADDED BONUS FROM DOWN UNDER - These refreshing and entertaining ads may be a step in the right direction, but Kotex's campaign in Australia takes it even a step further...giving it's consumers something that American audiences probably wouldn't know how to handle. HANDLE IT!
Bibliography
Newman, A. A. (2010, March 15). Rebelling Agaisnt the Commonly Evasive Feminine Care Ad. Retrieved April 24, 2010, from NY Times Media & Advertising: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/business/media/16adco.html
Popken, B. (2010, March 24). Kotex Apologizes for Years of Euphemistic Ads. Retrieved April 25, 2010, from Consumerist: http://consumerist.com/2010/03/u-by-kotex.html
Reuters. (2010, April 22). Kimberly-Clark Sees Cost Pressures in 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010, from NY Times Business Day: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/04/22/business/business-us-kimberlyclark.html
