(23) Sorry Boys, But I Just 'Gotta Rant

Like the tag says boys, sorry. This post is going to be about tampons and feminine pads. Why you ask?
Because of their advertising. It seems to be a very serious issue among young women. Girls everywhere seem to be infuriated by the advertisements shown on TV, myself not included. The other day, Kara posted this link on my Facebook wall:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8JXNfn/open.salon.com/blog/velina/2009/02/06/so_funny_i_did_not_change_a_word

I'm not sure whether it was truely and actual letter or not, but tts purely meant to be funny in nature. I found it absolutely atrocious. This woman is honestly asking the maxi-pad companies to stop portraying women as being so happy and carefree during their cycles, and to start portraying them as animals; you know, the way all women really are during their time of the month. Not only is she making herself sound like an escaped mad woman, but she safely assumes that she's speaking for women everywhere. Now I've heard some girls complain about the commercials here and there, but no one seems to have a better idea on how these companies ought to otherwise advertise, Why hasn't anyone thought of the alternative?
The thing is, when something is really not fun but you have to go through with it, the first thing that one would do is shed some light on it. Make it seem like its not so bad, that there are still opportunities out there to live your life and, well, go bowling or swimming with your friends. So what if the companies did stop making the corny, pop-music infused, lively commercials that we see everyday? What would they be like?

Boring, most likely. It would be like advertising for Q-tips or dish towels. And if they did try to make them lively and interesting, I think it would be pretty easy for the commercials to somehow succumb to some type of sexism, such as the stereotype of "crazy PMS-ing women going on rampages" (the writer's suggestion of changing the slogan to "Put the Hammer Down").

If the advertisements were to change, the type of commercial I can imagine would be a girl sitting in a gloomy room, lifelessly looking out the window; watching children play, staying home as all her friends go out and thinking of all the great times she could have, "if only she wasn't on her cycle". Then, once you think it can't get any more depressing, the logo slowly and silently fades into the picture with their new slogan "We're here for you in your time of need"
Sorry tampon and maxi pad manufacturers, but I'm not sold. Even toilet paper commercials are more interesting than that, with babies, cartoon bears, and cute puppies thrown into the mix.

Unfortunately, the furious letters from crampy teen girls everywhere must have finally caught the attention of the companies. Today, I saw a depressing period commercial.

It wasn't all about the doom-and-gloom on TV that soon awaits us women everywhere, but it was a young woman sitting in a chair in her bedroom talking about her period, and how the commercials are completely fake. She's completely unenthusiastic about, well, everything. She was just talking about bleeding from the crotch and trying to make jokes. Finally, the new [can't remember] slogan "Tampon commercials are lame!" comes about, with really abstract graphics.
Well ladies, you've won. I'm not advocating for the cheesy commercials that we once had, but I didn't understand the hype that came with it. While this company takes it upon itself to depress women everywhere in hopes of cheering them up, I'll anxiously await "Mother Nature" as she delivers her monthly red ribboned gift to women everywhere who've been caught off guard. They're cute and they've always made me smirk.