To say the least, it is perplexing to know that brands still face backlash for 'daring' to have a discussion about menstrual hygiene products especially when they are advertising products. But I must say these companies try their best to be on the safe side always because unknowingly period advertising has always been controversial in the country. This blog examines the evolution of period advertising throughout the years to see just how far we've come.
Since the starting period advertising has always been controversial. From 1995 evident demands on first sanitary pad ad on Doordarshan to recent Advertisement by Radhika Apte by replacing the use of blue gel in the advertisement the history is long. It’s fair to say we’ve come a long way when it comes to advertising menstruation products. It is found out that period advertising does promote the existing taboo in society. Initial advertisements used the period code words such as “shadows which so regularly come to their" life and they never used the word “period” directly.
Here is a glance at the history of period advertisements over the time period.
Brief History:
On December 11, 1929, Johnson & Johnson patented the first sanitary napkin in Australia. It shows a simple picture of cardboard fibers wrapped in crepe paper and gauze. Brand names such as Meds seemed to stand for "medical" or "medicine". Packaging often adopted symbols like the cross used to represent hospitals and the Red Cross.To support the war effort, Australia tightened its belt during the second world war. Due to brands like Johnston & Johnston focusing on making surgical supplies for the military, pads are hard to come by. Their advertisements were apologetic in tone: "We trust you will bear with us if you ... discover your chemist or store is out of ... Modess Sanitary Napkins."
Whereas coming to India.
Having been marketed as 'economical' in India by 1929, advertising soon emphasized how women were responsible for bettering the design, elevating Kotex's credibility. A new generation of "modern" women was targeted by the advertisement in America.
According to Lord Thomas, Kotex became associated with the image of the modern woman who "lives every day of her life" and "fills every day with activity". This advertising primarily targeted Europeans and Anglo-Indians before 1947. An advertisement in 1954 in India showed that Kotex also sought to create a brand value associated with the Indian "modern woman".
The organized sector was also producing sanitary napkins in India, but their advertisement India by the early 2000s these two companies Stayfree and Whisper were always competitors. They used to have regular advertisements on television.No matter what the era was they always portrayed the idea of using the menstrual pad as ‘modern’ accessibility.
The advertisement usually I don't know why but they always portray hyperactive women jumping over the steps after using the pad in the advertisement and we all know reality is very different. For some women, they have even nausea during the period. This is always clear that companies kind of superficially feeds people the idea of the pad in form of advertisement.
Advertisements in the late 2020s:
If we observe the fact the companies always promote the durability of their menstrual hygiene products through a blue gel on tv. It's always obvious that we bleed RED not Blue right? The reason goes long back in the early days of globalization the first advertisement by Kotex of the menstrual pad was aired on national Doordarshan and it faced a lot of controversies that companies had to shift to the blue gel but the recent advertisement by Radhika Apte Bleeding red did break all the stereotype and barriers followed blindly. In a move that will transform Indian advertising, Nobel Hygiene has launched an advertisement showing period blood in red instead of blue to break stereotypes around menstruation.
This has been long but I believe that advertisements are a mirror to our societal thoughts and interpretations. Any advertisement which has crossed the line has always faced criticism. Whereas compared to other countries like Australia and central America the advertisements evolved with the same concept of using the term modern as constant but hygiene products were different after some years tampons and later on menstrual cups gained a lot of popularity excluding the large population of India. It's a fact that menstrual pads contain chemicals, sometimes even pesticides leading to severe health issues for women which lead to the menstrual cup shift in other Countries. Whereas coming some people are aware of it but the large population excluding. Anyways it took many years for women to change from cotton cloth to pad themselves. But surprisingly menstrual cup advertisements can only be seen in social media rather than traditional television and other media.
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