Kotex gets it.

"No one wants to talk about it," says one of my best friends. The subject? Period. Just thinking about the word elicits a cringe from my whole body. It's a natural process signifying maturation, so us girls shouldn't have anything to be embarrassed about, right? Ha, wrong! Having that first "I got my period" talk with a parent is absolutely mortifying, not to mention awkward. Once the shock wears off, and that first talk is thankfully over, you begin to realize what your body is going to throw at you over the course of the next 3-7 days: the intense desire to consume massive amounts of sweets, the uncontrollable impulse to yell at everyone or cry on the drop of a hat, the unflattering silhouette developed when bloating, and the extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable "feminine products" are just the icing on the cake. (Boys, you really do not know how easy you have it sometimes.)

To most, it's clear that the experience described above is quite unpleasant; however, I've seen numerous ads and television commercials for a variety of feminine products mistakenly portray a different image, typically one of dancing silhouettes featuring happy, smiling women. Where is the reality in that? I can tell you right now that most women are certainly not all smiles when surfing the crimson wave. As for the dancing, I really cannot even begin to fathom where that magnificent idea came from. Instead of dancing shoes, I think fuzzy slippers would be a more accurate choice of footwear.

With that said, I was absolutely thrilled with delight when Kotex began running this brilliantly satirical commercial below.



After revisiting the ad for the first time in a while, I still could not hold myself back from blurting out, "Yes, finally!" in the Silent Study section of my school's library. Kotex completely nailed it with this satire, poking fun at those silly and completely unrealistic dancing silhouette commercials. Although the clips throughout the commercial are especially hilarious, including my favorite of the screeching cat, it's the speaker's satirical tone that completes my experience. The sarcastic tone of her voice coincides perfectly with the false sincerity of every short clip, and it makes you feel as if you're sharing this fantastic inside joke. Then, when the words "Why are tampon ads so ridiculous?" appear on the screen towards the end of the ad, you cannot help to think: Finally, someone gets it. Finally, the creator of Kotex (unlike some of those other brands with the fabulous ads depicting merry, pirouetting women) understands the frustrations and annoyances brought about by your period.

After viewing that commercial, I would definitely feel compelled to buy their products due to the mere fact that I've just been convinced that the makers of this product understand my body like they understand my frustration with unrealistic tampon ads. In that case, it looks as though the commercial has just done it's job in convincing me to buy the product being advertised. Well done, Kotex, well done.