Photo: Getty
Kotex is keeping it real.
The feminine hygiene product brand has debuted a new ad using a realistic-looking red liquid to represent period blood, instead of the blue-colored liquid that has been used in many commercials for decades.
“Blood is blood. This is something that every woman has experienced, and there is nothing to hide,” Sarah Paulsen, creative and design director for Kimberly-Clark’s North American feminine-care brands, told theWall Street Journal.
Kotex appears to be the first mainstream brand to use a realistic-looking liquid in its ads, the newspaper pointed out, adding that the fluid used in the commercial is the same synthetic material Kimberly-Clark uses while testing and developing its products.
The approach has also been applauded on social media.
“Thank you ❤️❤️❤️ so real,” one Instagram user commented on the post, while another added, “Thank you for using red liquid!! Yaaas ?.”
“It’s so unbelievable how some brands are still using blue liquid to represent period blood …it’s 2020 ? Thank you thank you thank you,” a third commenter wrote.
Over the past few years, several smaller brands have also promoted their feminine-care products using red-colored fluid.
In 2017, Bodyform, a U.K.-based brand, debuted a20-second adthat used a red liquid to demonstrate the effectiveness of its products and ended with the message: “Periods are normal. Showing them should be too.” The brand was credited withbeing the first to use realistic-looking fluid to depict menstruation.
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Cora, a U.S. feminine-care startup, also began using red fluid in their ads in 2018, according to theWall Street Journal.
Although the ads were initially removed from social media over complaints about their graphic content, company co-founder Molly Hayward told the newspaper that the decisions were quickly reversed. “There is a greater appetite and readiness for honesty around this,” Hayward said.
source: people.com
