I believe they consider it less objectionable than high contrast fire engine red or yellow for the cameras. I don't know how the use of blue was received by focus groups or in marketing survey, if they tested reactions or alternatives at all. Japan also uses blue liquid in advertising, including for diapers.

I just thought there was something really wrong with me 'cause my puss didn't spout Windex.

It also drives me crazy that such a thin, watery liquid is used to show how absorbant the pads are.

Um.

That's not realistic.

Blue's the opposite of red. I imagine because censors are fickle about both women's bodies, and blood in general. I recall the movie Evil Dead 2, where the creators featured multiple colors of demon blood for the censor's sake.

I never noticed it. But maybe it's better than pink.

It's probably a marketing thing. Blue is more soothing and relaxing than red. The product and the woman's menstrual flow will be associated with the soothing blue color, so the brain will just remember "Period -> Blue ->
Soothing -> Always -> Soothing.

Now what's with all the blue on feministing.com?

What, your periods aren't bright blue and smell like spring flowers? Am I the only one?! :) I figure its one of those, "we don't want to show you on tv what this is actually used for," things. I mean, I'm a little squeemish around blood, so I probably wouldn't want to see a cup of red caro syrup pouring onto a maxi pad. Blue liquid means we can pretend actual body fluids aren't involved.

Because women are so icky that we can't be realistic or the boys will squirm...in the bad way.

I agree with those who mentioned consistency. If it has to be blue, it should at least be gloppy and gross like real.

I hate that the blue liquid used to advertise pads is the same as that used for diapers. I also hate that the two products always end up in the same grocery store aisle. WTF? Same logic there as the logic that puts maternity clothes on the same floor/area as baby clothes, miles away from the grown up lady clothes.

I think they should put the condoms right in the middle of the baby stuff, as a subtle reminder of THAT connection.

Maybe the blue is representative of all the chemicals they use on pads. :)

Hey, at least Kotex is inching toward realism with their packaging. Every line is now represented by a different red flower. Frex: http://www.kotex.com/na/images/products/maxi_page_06.jpg

Haha...I have wondered about this too!

But admittedly, wouldn't chunky, red liquid look revolting in a commercial? I think we could have a legit conversation about whether this is an issue of "let's take a realistic female function and sterilize it to make it socially acceptable."

On a lighter note, I think it's just for the sake of women AND men watching it who might be, like, eating pasta with marinara sauce.

I believe it has to do with blue being an unnatural color. No bodily function is blue, so we don't see it as disgusting or disturbing. We aren't reminded of urine, blood, pus, or anything like that.

You mean I can't sterilize my barbers' implements?

i suspect the use of blue was the result of heavy focus-group testing. they want to show that the product is effective without inducing a gross-out.

i'm not going to lie, if they used some gooey red crap instead i would probably be icked out and more likely to change the channel when a pad/tampon commercial came on. same with diapers. i'm not in favor of dehumanizing women's bodies or giving th impression that we are unclean or whatever, but this seems to be more about just not showing stuff that most people arguably find at least a little gross on television. they don't show actual hemorrhoids in preparation H commercials, do they?

i respect the natural female body, but i also think periods are inconvenient, messy and kind of gross. i don't have to pretend they are special and the beautiful manifestation of my inner earth goddess to be a feminist.

There was a commercial recently for a car that ran on some kind of alternative energy (hydrogen maybe? I don't remember) that featured blue liquid filling up a space in the shape of the car. The point was that the only emissions produced by the car were water, but all I could think of was driving around in a giant pad

You know that when they advertise nappies they always use blue liquid as well, and they say "Keeps wetness away from your baby's skin". Because heaven forbid we should acknowledge the existence of urine or menstrual blood.

i don't have to pretend they are special and the beautiful manifestation of my inner earth goddess to be a feminist.

YEAH!! Ditto that! :D

This seems like a good place to promote my honors project... ;)
http://periodpiece.blogspot.com

It's still in its infancy, since it's only January, but I'm really excited about the next few months.

TV sanatizes every bodily function; it's not specifically anti-woman or anti-period.

Using red liquid could trick the mind into thinking they are pouring actual blood, and that could cause real, physical reactions from sensitive people. (I'll never forget how a girl in my HS health class passed out HARDCORE onto the floor while we were watching a first aid video with the fakest looking laceration I've ever seen.)

I'll be honest -- I don't want to be caught off guard by the sight of bloody pads when I'm having lunch or hanging out with my dad. I know what the blue means, and until they start zooming in on men wiping their poopy asses with Charmin Soft, I'm going to assume it's not a gender issue.

These are the same people that print "Have a happy period" on the back of every pad. I don't think there is anything left that they could do that WOULDN'T annoy the hell out of me.

I also hate that the two products always end up in the same grocery store aisle. WTF?

I've noticed that in some stores, but at least in the CVS near my house, the pads/tampons are in the aisle with "family planning" and yeast infection stuff, and incontinence items are in a different aisle (not sure if it's the one with the baby diapers).

prairirefyre- I remember the first time I came across "have a happy period". I cut it out and taped it onto my computer monitor at school. It got a lot of looks.

This reminds me of a question I've always had. Why, for all the technological advances we have, haven't we come up with a better way of doing periods? Yes, I know you can use the pill to skip them altogether, and, yes, some pills make them shorter. But why hasn't somebody come up with a way to let you have the period that's less annoying than just letting it drip out over 7 days. My dream would be something, a pill or a tool, that would let me make all my period come out at once, in one gush that I could somewhat plan the timing of, with then maybe some light residual spotting following. It's the fact that stuff just keeps dripping out of me and I can feel it but not control it for days on end that drives me nuts about my period. It seems like there has to be a better way.

sara- I imagine any such "gusher pill" could be just as easily used as an abortificiant. And heaven knows we can't let the ladies have that!

Anthropologists use the idea of purity and pollution. Things that are "pure" in one culture may be "polluted" in another. For example, beef is pure in the US but polluted in India. What's interesting is that I don't know of a single culture in which menstrual blood is not considered polluted.

I'm not suggesting that the colored water in pad commercials is bad because we should all love our menstrual blood to be good feminists. I understand the practical, marketing reasons for it.

But on the other hand, they're trying to tell me their product works so well because look at how it absorbs the blue water! When I'm just like... whoever made this commercial has no idea what menstruation is like.

Don't try to convince me that a product works by showing me how it ISN'T used.

I second everything rileystclair said!! Very well put. It's just what I was thinking, but could not quite put into words.

Really, do I have to *love* my period to be a feminist? Because I don't; I hate it. It's messy and icky and smelly sometimes a little painful (cramps) and screws up my sex life BIG time. Since I never ever EVER plan on having kids, I've thought seriously about having the whole damn unit removed altogether, but of course every doctor I speak to about it talks me out of it... Besides, they only perform hysterectomies in life-threatening or otherwise dangerous situations, but they won't do it just because I find having a menstrual period inconvenient. Bastards! ;)

"I think they should put the condoms right in the middle of the baby stuff, as a subtle reminder of THAT connection."

Best. Idea. Ever.

You know the little cards you have to take to the pharmacy to get Sudafed? Do they make those for Plan B? If they do, you could add those, too.

"But why hasn't somebody come up with a way to let you have the period that's less annoying than just letting it drip out over 7 days."

My health teacher in high school also once mused in class, that she'd like to sit on the toilet and just say, "Now." As a nurse, I'll say it might cause a hemorrhage if it happened too quickly. Blood tests can demonstrate how menstruation can actually cause anemia in some women.

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00321.html

Signs and symptoms
The main symptom of most types of anemia is fatigue. Other signs and symptoms of anemia include:

Weakness
Pale skin
A fast heartbeat
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Dizziness
Cognitive problems
Numbness or coldness in your extremities
Headache

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00323.html

Signs and symptoms
In general, anemia causes extreme fatigue, pale skin, weakness, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and often cold hands and feet.

Signs and symptoms of iron deficiency anemia in particular may include:

Inflammation or soreness of your tongue
Brittle nails
Unusual cravings for non-nutritive substances, such as ice, dirt or pure starch
Headache
Poor appetite, especially in infants and children with iron deficiency anemia

Seriously, who would want to experience any of these effects by bleeding too fast/too heavily, and have a *physiological basis* for being judged as a woman, IF it had any negative effects on how you lived or worked? Note that "cognitive problems" "fatigue" "light headedness" can affect some women right now, though many would deny it. In nursing class, instructors and classmates had no problem, speaking as fellow women, how menstruation or menopause really affected them, speaking from a medical standpoint. Could feminists be so open in public?

Huh? I am missing something? Blue for blood? What commercial? Maybe I need to watch more TV. I thought tampon commercials only showed women running on the beach and saying how "fresh" they are ...

I second rileystar!

And MxStilletto, every so often there will be a post about the *new* pills that women can take to stop their periods if they don't want them and we'll get a flood of the earth mother types trying to *politely* tell all the women that its such a "shame" they can't embrace their periods and thus their femininity and then there will be a whole back and forth about the political is personal etc. For them, unless a woman has a serious medical condition with her menstruation every woman should be pleased as punch to be squirtin' out blood five to seven days straight cause that's what makes us women don'tcha know! And it makes us SPECIAL and POWERFUL or some such rhetoric and the only reason women don't like their periods is cause men say their yucky.

Count me among the women who never liked her period and I don't have a serious medical condition.

Have I opened a floodgate? Probably.../rant

As for the freaky blue liquid, I'm just going to second what everyone else has been saying, it really has nothing to do so much with "women" are icky as no one wants to be reminded of every bodily fluid while they're watching TV. Any kind of product that's for catching those fluids is advertised with the blue liquid.

Speaking of periods and populution, I read something really interesting in one of my textbooks regarding "hard sciences" and the patriarchy and how the affect views of women ...

Periods are looked at as impure because science has dictated that women's bodies are reproduction machines - therefore, anything that isn't a baby, is considered "a failed production," this impure by science's standards.

The article actually goes on to talk about how the lack of women's vantage point in the hard sciences has also contributed to the way reproduction and periods and such are viewed. Good stuff.

PFM, I say as a marketing major with a BBA, perhaps you are simply watching too many "male" oriented shows to see advertising *aimed* at younger women with menstruation or babies in diapers. Seriously.

The old ads where girls say "Mom, sometimes I just don't feel fresh," and the actress mom smilingly whipped an entire box of feminine powder/deodorant out of thin air in response was very amusing.

I somehow just remembered products for yeast infection.

I'll never forget how a girl in my HS health class passed out HARDCORE onto the floor while we were watching a first aid video with the fakest looking laceration I've ever seen.

Sorry...that was me. Blood makes me freak. I don't even like those body builders who have their veins popping out. *shudder*

As for diapers and pads in the same aisle...I always thought it was the grocery store trying to make me feel better about my period...as in it could be worse...you could be pregnant.

I think I have seen a store that had condoms right by diapers and such. I thought it was funny.

I think Karen Houppert covered this in The Curse, and yeah, it is because thin blue liquid is about as far from what a period actually looks like as possible.

I dunno, I like getting my period, and I see far more posters on this site not wanting it than wanting it. Each to her own.

You know that when they advertise nappies they always use blue liquid as well, and they say "Keeps wetness away from your baby's skin". Because heaven forbid we should acknowledge the existence of urine or menstrual blood.

To be fair, when it comes to babies, it's not only urine or feces; it's also a matter of sweat. Sticking someone in a thick swath of plastic and tissue on a hot day causes a lot of wetness that's just basically sweat, which is why babies are far more prone to diaper rash in the summer than the winter. Aren't you glad I told you? Isn't that fascinating? Sorry--I'm a mine of random baby facts.

And speaking of advertising, when millions of dollars are spent, and the success of the entire line/company are on the line, advertisers and the companies they work for, must operate on gross stereotypes. They are not likely to listen to complaints of "Hey! Women watch extreme sports too!" and air commercials for pads, yeast infection products or baby diapers in between ads for sportbikes, beer, and four wheel drive vehicles hauling logs and tearing up the landscape.

Ha! A male, I think you're right. Most of the time, I have CNN on the background, but that's about it ...I'd love to see a tampons Super Bowl ad on Feb. 5.

I think you're right about marketing. Speaking of which, I was shopping for earplugs the other day and saw this: http://sleepinpink.com/

Ha! A male, I think you're right. Most of the time, I have CNN on the background, but that's about it ...I'd love to see a tampons Super Bowl ad on Feb. 5.

I think you're right about marketing. Speaking of which, I was shopping for earplugs the other day and saw this: http://sleepinpink.com/

ProFeministMale: that article sounds really interesting if you could find it online.

As for the blue liquid, I don't find it offensive so much as annoying and unconvincing. Long live the tampon!

:( Aw... why isn't my period blue???

Fuck Always. Who here uses the keeper or other alternative menstruation products?

"Speaking of periods and populution, I read something really interesting in one of my textbooks regarding "hard sciences" and the patriarchy and how the affect views of women ..."

But menstrual blood, and menstruating women, have been viewed as "impure" since the Old Testament, when science was lacking. And the view of "failed conception" would also apply if, as some have written, men were the ones to have periods.

The stupidest example of this sort was in an ad showing a woman, who apparently had been stood up, sitting at her dinner table, deciding to make crafty use of the wasted bottle of wine to pour it all over various sanitary products. Before asking the audience whether we thought using "*dry* white wine was a bit of a cheat?".

I'd rather advertisers used unrealistic thin blue liquid than tried to con us into thinking ANYONE would waste good booze to test out their tampons.

Yoshimi: I can't find the actual text online, but it was taken from a book called: The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction. Boston Beacon Press. Written by Emily Martin. It actually brings up a lot of good points that personally, I've not considered.

A Male - On your view of male and menstruatation, the Gloria Steinem's piece "If Men Could Menstruate" spoke to me a bit. :)

PFM, those pink "women's" earplugs must be niche marketing (like factory pink Ferraris), because there is no reason in hell why male light sleepers like myself would not experience sleep difficulties as well.

Huh, I just thought I wasn't getting enough blue Kool-Aid in my diet.

"On your view of male and menstruatation, the Gloria Steinem's piece "If Men Could Menstruate" spoke to me a bit. :)"

I read it, and it was the most memorable piece out of "Herstory" that I had to study at university for my social problems course in 1986. But really, if menstruation were viewed as failed conception, would menstruating men still be hailed as closer to their crucified savior, as Steinem claimed?

The old ads where girls say "Mom, sometimes I just don't feel fresh," and the actress mom smilingly whipped an entire box of feminine powder/deodorant out of thin air in response was very amusing.

There was a parody of those with Michael Jordan on Saturday Night Live once. It was awesome.

I have a DivaCup and at this point can't imagine using anything else, to the point where I've wondered if I should have a Talk with my almost-pubescent niece.

Ok, now I'm totally confused in response to a male's comment.

I was taught that the blood that comes out during a period is a lining of blood that's built up in the uterus over the month to create a hospitable climate for a fertilized egg to develop, and that, when there's no fertilized egg to need it, it has to fall out and that's why there's a period. So, if the blood's already out of circulation and lining the uterus, why would having it all come out at once rather than dripping slowly out cause anemia or hemorrhage? Or am I misunderstanding? If there's a problem of people getting anemia from their periods, why isn't there a treatment that keeps the body from diverting so much blood to the lining of the uterus? Does the blood have to come out at all?

Ok, now I'm totally confused from a male's first comment.

I was taught that the blood that comes out during a period is a lining of blood that's built up in the uterus over the month to create a hospitable climate for a fertilized egg to develop, and that, when there's no fertilized egg to need it, it falls out and that's why there's a period. If it's just a lining of blood that's already out of circulation, why would it falling out sooner cause a hemorrhage or anemia? Or is blood actually leaving circulation in my body during the period? And if so, why does it have to do that? Why hasn't somebody come up with a way to stop it from doing that? Or, why doesn't birth control just stop the lining from building up to begin with?

I suddenly feel so dumb. Years of sitting througn plumbing-oriented sex ed classes in school and it's entirely possible I have no idea what's going on in my body during my period...

ak! sorry for the double post!

This makes me happy that I started using the Diva Cup. No waste, no weird chemicals, and no blue liquid.

There is actually a legitimate reason for the blue liquid; having personally worked for a biochemical testing laboratory, I know this to be fact (and you can Google it for verification). It has nothing to do with sociological studies or "pleasantness of color" or whatever.

Products that use SAP (super absorbent polymer), such as diapers or feminine hygiene products, are tested in laboratories using a diluted solution of copper sulfate. This liquid is a startling shade of blue. In pictures used for research reports, the copper sulfate-stained product is used, hence why you see them in commercials (so I gather).

What I was told is that copper sulfate is particularly good at saturating the SAP particles, so as to provide a distinctive image of how much SAP is in a product. The saturated particles puff up with copper sulfate more so than a dye-and-saline solution (we used both, it's no contest). I would imagine that the copper also is more similar to blood than saline.

Anyway, there's your scientific reason for blue liquid. I used to think it was stupid too.

Except these are commercials, not scientific tests. This is the same medium that coats hamburgers with vaseline to make them look glossier on film (this is true). They're not filming actual tests; they're making advertising choices based on what they think will be most appealing to their audience.

Oh yeah, those "freshness" ads were for Massingill douche.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1cAYWi9E_0

Massingill douche is also recommended for deskunking.

Reportedly, Summer's Eve with Natrasal is also recommended for feeling fresh. I always liked that Summer's Eve song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7v7uBA6LW8&feature=related

lol, that "related" Triumph "The bra ad (chinese)" from Taiwan.

*train jerks*
guy: oh! excuse me I'm very sorry
girl: oh! don't be it's feels very comfortable [the bra]
(guy stares wide-eyed ...)

*train jerks*
girl: oh! pls excuse me too
guy: oh! don't be, I like it too.

Get a room. The slogan, in LARGE print, appears to be "Romance Bra," and I believe, some rendition of "apparel for that loving feeling." lol

I disagree. Copper sulfate wasn't used for a statistical measure of ability to absorb, they were used in product reports. These are the brochures they send to companies so that they can feel happy about how much theoretical liquid their product can absorb, so that they can make those claims about "30% better than competitive brands", and so forth. They are VERY commercial.

Copper sulfate doesn't actually demonstrate how much liquid a product can absorb, it gives an inflated version of how much liquid it LOOKS like they can absorb. I remember taking pictures EXACTLY set up like the ones you see on commercials, with diapers laid out on black counters taking high quality images and putting them into .pdf brochures for KC, P&G, etc.

What I'm saying is that using the "blue liquid" is industry standard for superabsorbent polymer. The fact that blue liquid is "aesthetically more pleasing" is irrelevant; in fact, I would say it's an effect generated BECAUSE those marketing execs are used to seeing copper-sulfate stained images in all of their product reports. It doesn't JUSTIFY it, but it explains why they do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XStbLoZy7VU

Here is a commercial demonstrating the EXACT same test. That bottle is absolutely full of a dilution of copper sulfate.

Images of copper sulfate solution for comparison: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=%22copper+sulfate+solution%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

I disagree. You may well have done tests that look like these commercials; it's irrelevant because those tests are not what's airing. Nothing happens by accident in a commercial, just because an executive is "used" to it. The vast majority of the viewing public is not. The vast majority of the viewing public does not see thin blue liquid and think "ah, yes, copper sulfate, that increases the appearence of absorption." The vast majority of the viewing public sees blue liquid and thinks "hmm, listerine, or that stuff hairdressers use to sterilize combs, or Drano." And it's the viewing public that commercials are designed to appeal to, not industry insiders or executives of the company doing the advertising. So they shelack fruit; they put vaseline on hamburgers, and they dress every woman in a tampon/pad commercial in white and pour blue liquid all over tampons in order to get their products as far away from the realities of menstruation as possible.

"This is the same medium that coats hamburgers with vaseline to make them look glossier on film (this is true)."

And paints raw turkeys brown to look cooked, with hidden burning cigarettes to create the succulent "steaming" look, and shows misleadingly large burgers with buns too small to hold them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4K8-Qt6s4c&feature=related

1984 was very early for a sensitive males commercial.

I love advertising. Watching, not as a job. I was too anti-capitalist for that.

You aren't understanding what I'm saying.

The point about using copper sulfate is that it is COMPLETELY unrealistic. It demonstrates absorbency that defies actual use.

In the actual scientific tests, they use saline-based solutions. When they want to make things look like they absorb BETTER than they actually do, they use copper sulfate.

I would bet money that in all those commercials, they are using a copper-sulfate solution and not liquid dyed blue. The question is "why do they use blue liquid in these commercials?" I believe the answer is "because they are using a dilution of copper sulfate that inflates the absorbency of the product; the fact that it is blue is a by-product of the fact that copper sulfate is an unnatural shade of blue."

If copper sulfate was red, the liquid would be red. If it was green, it would be green. The color is irrelevant. I'm not sure why you think this is an incorrect statement since it is using the EXACT same reasoning as gluing sesame seeds to a foam bun for hamburger commercials, painting vaseline on a hamburger...it's an exaggeration of reality.

Yes, but my point is that if they didn't want that solution to be blue, they'd find a way to make it unblue. I think you're underestimating how sharply controlled every single aspect of a commercial is.

Why bother spending all this money making a liquid that is INSANELY blue appear red? Or trying to find another liquid that does the job as well as a copper sulfate solution, just so that they can try to make the color more realistic? Food coloring and water doesn't cut it, and it costs pennies to make a bottle of copper sulfate.

I think you are overestimating how much money an ad agency is willing to spend when something (in this case, utilizing copper sulfate solution) has already been institutionalized in advertisements. Not to be trite, but "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." It's not always some patriarchal conspiracy.

Yeah, they should use real blood, the same way they use real shit in diaper commercials!

Oh wait, they do not.

I am in touch with my inner blood goddess or whatever you want to say: I am completely comfortable pulling Divacups of blood from my pussy every month, and recieving oral sex on the rag, and telling everyone about the DivaCup, and sucking on papercuts and all that.

But I don't want to see blood on TV. I don't watch horror movies for that reason, I rarely watch the Food Network when Alton Brown is slicing up steak, and I never entered the medical field. I don't want suprise blood on my TV. I don't ever want to wonder over dinner if the blood on TV is real. Ew ew ew.

I do, jcastle! I've been using a diva cup for three years (since my junior year of high school) and I much much MUCH prefer it to tampons and pads. It's way more comfortable for me and I don't mind touching menstrual blood or seeing lots of it (I actually find it kind of cool to see how the consistency changes based on how much water I've been drinking). The only thing that bothers me sometimes is that the smell is more noticeable, but only when I actually take the cup out and if I haven't emptied it in a while (like, 24 hours). I have a transgendered friend who was hesitant at first about using it, but absolutely loves it now. He says it's easier to feel masculine when you don't have to feel a pad sticking to your crotch. ;)

raspberry sour--i get what you're saying about copper sulfate making a product look more absorbent, that makes sense to me.

however, i honestly don't believe that if copper sulfate was bright red, that it would be used without being dyed another color. at some point the audience's revulsion to your ad is going to outweigh the appearance of effectiveness.

i'm sure the decision NOT to dye it is based in part on marketing. these are huge companies--every image in every ad they put out goes through an extensive evaluation by people whose job it is to know what will make consumers buy shit.

"So, if the blood's already out of circulation and lining the uterus, why would having it all come out at once rather than dripping slowly out cause anemia or hemorrhage?"

This is not my specialty, despite doing well on tests. However, control of bleeding and repair does need to occur during the span of days. Live, fresh red blood cells are not out of circulation yet. Clots would represent blood which was not as fresh. Note I refer to passages on normal menstruation below, from cites on abnormal bleeding.

Menstrual Dysfunction
Linda D. Bradley, MD
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/women/menstrual_dysfunction/menstrual_dysfunction.htm

"Simplistically, normal menstrual bleeding results from fluctuations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-ovarian axis, leading to predictable denudation and sloughing of the endometrium. Hemorrhage followed by prompt hemostasis and repair causes stabilization and regrowth of the endometrium. Physiologically, constant low levels of estrogen prime the endometrium. Normal secretion of progesterone from the corpus luteum stabilizes the endometrium, decreases vascular fragility, and supports the endometrial stroma. Patients with menorrhagia typically have an imbalance of prostaglandin levels and increased fibrinolytic activity."

["Menorrhagia: heavier and increased amount of flow occurring at regular intervals or loss of more than 80mL of blood"]

Also:

Military Obstetrics & Gynecology: Abnormal Bleeding
http://www.brooksidepress.org/Products/Military_OBGYN/Textbook/AbnormalBleeding/Bleeding.htm

Look, I get what you're trying to say: that it's more appealing to show a "safe" blue liquid than a gloppy cupful of chunky blood, or even just a reddish liquid reminiscent of blood. But I still think that you guys are making the advertising decision out to be way too "evil genius" than it is.

They've been using the "blue liquid" in ads for decades. I suspect that back in the day, they used it because it worked better than anything, and it was cheap. I mean, they didn't spend nearly as much time thinking about how every focus group would respond back in the day, i.e. the Ford Yugo.

Furthermore, it's not like the feminine hygiene industry even compares to the demand of the fast food industry. Women are going to buy their product no matter what because the demand for hygiene products is fairly inelastic compared to the ultra competitive nature of fast food markets. What differentiates products is making people believe that they can *absorb* more than they actually can.

I bet that nowadays, it's an institutionalized decision; it works, so why question it? They use it in paper towel commercials, in diaper commercials; basically anything that needs to describe absorbency of a cotton-based product that is loaded with superabsorbent polymer, specifically the absorbency of the SAP that makes those pads actually WORK.

And given that people have been commenting for YEARS as to how unrealistic the blue color is, why do they keep using it? I maintain: it's industry standard, it demonstrates unnatural absorbency, and there isn't anything that performs better for the price.

Remember, the question is "Why do they use blue liquid?" and not "Why don't they make it red?" You could add some red or yellow dye and make it purple or green, which probably strikes people as being as unnatural if not more. You can't make it red or yellow easily.

I'm going to stop posting because I'm spending WAY too much time debating this.

"every so often there will be a post about the *new* pills that women can take to stop their periods if they don't want them and we'll get a flood of the earth mother types trying to *politely* tell all the women that its such a "shame" they can't embrace their periods and thus their femininity"

I embrace my period as evidence that my birth control is effective. :)

Kind of late to the game and slightly off-topic, but can we talk about the new tampax design? It is AWFUL and repeated emails/calls to the company have yielded no response. I have a big ol' vagina, I guess, and these new tampax tampons are little and ineffective and gross and I hate them. Am I alone in noticing this? Looks like I'll be switching to the diva cup!

I know that this is off topic, but sometimes my co-workers and I will be watching television at work and anytime a maxi-pad or tampon commercial comes on, one of my male co-workers complains about having to be subjected to it. "Why are these things advertised on television? I shouldn't have to see this. Women are going to buy them anyway." I have yet to figure out what to say to that guy. Any ideas?

brenia-
I might mention to the men that duh, people are also going to buy ketchup, but since there is more than one brand, they use ad dollars to convince people that their brand is best.

I just want to point out, as an artist who has worked with video, that is it extremely simple and easy to change the color of an element in a film. The wouldn't need to figure out a way to dye the liquid a different color.

well, Brenia, it all depends on how nice you want to be about it. Personally, I'd just go with "shut the fuck up" but then I've never been known for subtlety.

There's always something along the lines of "aww, is the poor widdle boy scared of the big bad pad?"

oh yeah, and on a related note, the boy who lived next door to me growing up equated the blue diaper commercial liquid with the blue pad/tampon commercial liquid and thought both represented urine...therefore he thought that a woman's period meant she was leaking urine uncontrollably. He confided this all to me at the park one day, we must have been about 9 and 11, and I couldn't help but laugh at him all the way home.

"Why are these things advertised on television? I shouldn't have to see this. Women are going to buy them anyway."

They are advertised on television because it is an effective marketing medium able to reach a wide audience at once, and unlike flipping through a magazine, TV viewers will be forced to see the ads maybe eight times per hour, perhaps in their entirety. [This is why I appreciate my hard disk recorder, which allows me to skip any commercials, revealing there are about 20 minutes of commercials per hour. It wasn't this way when I was younger.] Those companies are willing to pay for the privilege, to create favorable impressions with women to use their company's product as opposed to what the women are currently using.

Tell him you don't like watching commercials for "men's" beer to improve success with young, slim, sexy women they'll never get unless drunk; or men in boots, hardhats and plaid flannel shirts driving work trucks, hauling logs and towing up to 10,000 lbs with the most powerful V-8 in its class, bounding over rocks and sand dunes, to appeal to young urbanites who commute. I like watching them, but they're dumb, and I would never spend $40,000 on a vehicle I drive 4,000 miles a year.

I think you should start complaining any time a commercial with a woman in a bikini comes on--"Why should I have to see this? Men are going to buy beer anyway!"

Sorry, random question? Really? Have I just discovered that I'm definitely not the target audience for this site?

But I'm sort of worried that I've crossed to the other side, and I'm really hoping that's not possible. But first the Target ad and now this? I might have to reserve myself a seat at the old ladies' table, which, frankly, scares me.

And I'm being honest when I say I really don't think I've got the "too cool for school" attitude either. So yikes.

"Why should I have to see this? Men are going to buy beer anyway!"

But Samuel Adams is "ichiban ii desu" (the best), as well as sweet, bitter, complex, and demands attention like a woman. The public has a right to know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwBUstMm3Mw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD6ivth4T6E

we should all love our menstrual blood to be good feminists.

really? i don't love my snot, and that's a part of my body, which i do love and appreciate. i don't have to think that every part about me is delicious to be a "good feminist," whatever that means. is it like being a good wife who loves scrubbing toilets?

@emdra: i would advise against the driveby editorials. i thought this and the Target post were stupid too, but feminists usually don't agree on everything because we use our brains and our brains are different. if you have an opinion, voice it. if you have an issue you'd rather talk about, send the real editors a link.

What's really funny is a friend & I used to play a game where we made pads out of tissues and soaked them with blue food colouring!

Latest pad ad in NZ:

BF: I want to know everything about you. (walks into bathroom and picks up a series of things) What's this for?
GF: that's an eyelash curler. That's for exfoliating...
BF then picks up unused wrapped pad, takes wrapping off & removes the strips from the adhesive patches
BF: What about these, the sticky bits?
GF: those are side leakage wings, to stop, you know, leakage
BF closes bathroom door, sticks hands over ears & whines: Please stop talking about that...

It's a great ad, 'cos there's so many holes in the premise, I just end up picking it to pieces & laughing my head off every time.

I happen to like this thread, and consider the lab lecture very educational. My mother was a chemistry teacher for 33 years and I should have suspected something because I know of copper sulfate solution, and did some sort of experiments in class 23 years ago.

Well, I like the blue liquid myself. It shows the absorbency of the material without reminding the audience of the unpleasantness we commonly associate with blood/urine/feces. I'm happy for those who can "honor their cycle" and shit, but I personally hate everything about my period.

That being said, I use the DivaCup, and I love it!

- no leaks & no vaginal dryness
- environmentally friendly
- you can leave it in for 3-6 times longer than tampons
- no running to the store to restock every month
- saves you tons of money in the long run

You know you've been wondering about it... click on that link! :)

If you ever wanted a period to essentially come out all at once, you should try the Divacup. You do have to change it 2-3 times a day but the process is simple and painless and surprisingly clean, unlike tampons or pads. Disposable sanitary products are outrageously wasteful to boot.

Also, has anyone else seen Tampax's new commercials about African girls that can't go to school because they don't have 'protection' and how as a Tampax consumer, some of your money is going to get this girl hooked on a wasteful and expensive product?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmrHbY8zrHs&feature=related

Buy those girls a divacup, or some reusable pads, they'll last
QUITE a bit longer, I promise.

Commercializing third world vaginas. Bravo Tampax. Bravo.

(for the record, the other actions the blanket organization Protecting Futures are taking seem legit, sanitation and education are important, but Tampax's involvement smacks of product placement)

"Hooked"? Tampons aren't heroin or caffeine--they're not addictive.

There's nothing stopping Divacup from donating its products. If they're not and Tampax is, then the available tampons seem like a much better choice than the absent menstrual cup.

When I lived in Mexico about ten years ago a TV ad for a popular brand of pads (Saba) that were marketed heavily to younger women featured a woman cleaning up her apartment after an apparent murder. As police sirens blared in the background she pondered how to clean up the last bit of evidence: a small pool of blood on the floor. She then grabbed a pad from her bathroom and mopped it up, and when the police arrived and busted into her home she was calm, collected, and looking up at them innocently. I remember thinking at the time that it was a witty way to address the true function of pads (absorbing blood) without offending delicate sensibilities. Rethinking it now, it of course strikes me that portraying violence and its bloody aftermath are so often more acceptable than even alluding to sex or reproduction or bodily functions. Still, I have to give the creators of that ad points for at least not falling back on the tired old formula of shaming women into buying pads out of fear of being dirty or smelly.

You know what, Amie, that was my exact thought when I saw that Tampax ad. Using rags is an option they already have available to them, but schools don't always have facilities for them to wash with. Tampons and other disposable products create quite a bit of waste, but are a better solution than rags.

DivaCups would be ideal, and frankly, they can't be all that expensive to manufacture - they're just silicone moulds FFS. I think the company that makes DivaCups is a lot smaller than Proctor & Gamble, though, which would affect their ability to donate their products.

The other thing to think about is that menstruation is a taboo topic in some cultures. So distribution of any kind of menstrual product might pose a problem.

You have a great memory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMH2xwLSKaE

porque es muy absorbente

Always also has a commercial to promote P&G's aid program:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNYvi7_QEbI&feature=related

Here is a report on the extent of aid, claimed to be much more than product promotion, and some very candid reactions from women from the region to this corporate "aid":

http://www.africanloft.com/tampax-and-always-launch-protecting-futures-program-dedicated-to-helping-african-girls-stay-in-school/#comment-7543

There are a number of vintage feminine product ads from MUM, the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health, which they observe played on girls' and women's fears and self-esteem, like "They won't talk behind her back!" because she uses the proper feminine deodorant powder on her pads. "Why does she spend the evenings alone?" refers to a cringing, nail biting married woman whose husband is pictured heading out the door. Old ads were remarkably wordy and formal.

The site is rich with history, with possibly thousand of links.

http://www.mum.org/director.htm
http://www.mum.org/

It also includes a short history on the menstrual cup with ads and instructions from various makers.

Though the view of menstruation as impure stretches thousands of years in a range of cultures, it is noted that in 18th century France and 19th century rural Germany, no effort was made to hide menstruation or odor. The French actually considered menstrual odors seductive. Research on reactions of wild bears to odor or menstruating women was interesting.

A male: "hidden burning cigarettes to create the succulent "steaming" look"

They don't use cigarettes in ads anymore. The smoke looks too blue on film. Now they just get a tampon, dip it in water and heat it in the microwave. Stick in the middle of the food and voila! Steaming hot food!

Really? Are you serious? That's kind of the coolest thing I've heard all day!

HOOKED?

It's not crack, it's cotton.

I have no desire to stand around washing bloody cups or other reusable items. So I will continue using disposable products, thankyouverymuch. It doesn't make me less of a feminist earth goddess than someone who uses a Diva Cup.