Is this Australian period commercial offensive to women?
YouTube/Unicharm Australasia
Women have been getting periods since the beginning of time and yet marketing and advertising agencies continue to be clueless when it comes to understanding the market.
Sofy, a sanitary pad company under the umbrella of Unicharm recently released this video in Australia.
Entitled “Ugh Moments,” the tag for the video reads, “Ugh. That feeling of general grossness when your pad isn’t quite doing it’s job. Say goodbye to blergh with SOFY® BeFresh™.”
The video follows an Australian women – clearly not using the new Sofy BeFresh pads – on the day that she finds out she has her period. At that moment the thin actress suddenly becomes plus-sized and sloppy, laying around the house, complaining on the phone to friends, fighting with her cat and ordering pizza. The message: if you’re wearing the right pad, you won’t turn into the gross, angry woman with their period.
So women should be confined to the house when they have a period? Disgusting advert #sofybefresh
— Lexicon (@alexiafrances)
This pad commercial would be funny if it was a joke, but it just fat- & period-shames women all in 1 min. http://t.co/8Q0VArivOW
— Jessica Doutsas (@jdouts)
This Unicharm ad reminds us that women are unstable, unattractive & irrational on their periods https://t.co/cKIovdcMzU Thx #sofybefresh
— Andrea Yip (@andrealyip)
Dear #sofybefresh peeps - you should probably pull your ad and fire your ad agency. Cut your losses #justsaying
— Megan Klymiuk (@klymiuk)
Criticism of sanitary product commercials is not a new thing. In 2010, U by Kotex created an entire campaign on the ridiculousness of industry ads with “Break the Cycle,” a series poking fun of other agencies and attempting to remove the taboo around of getting your period. It was a hit.
U by Kotex
While some women have clearly expressed offense from the Sofy ad – one tweeter suggested it makes women look “unstable, irrational and unattractive” – others have found it rather humorous.
