Friday, March 9, 2012

Kotex for Real: Calling out the Hypocrisy, Everywhere

Have y'all seen these new Kotex for Real commercials? I love them.

This is the one I've seen several times now.



Why do I love this commercial? Because they are calling out the male-dominated advertising industry for dictating what women "want" to see in a commercial. My favorite is the shot of the guy motioning to the pie chart with butterflies, kittens and unicorns under the heading "Girls Love:". All of the "maxi pad wizards" are white males. No one in that room coming up with commercials for tampons has any idea what it is like to need a tampon.

This commercial is still pretty new; it's been all over Hulu lately. And I think this Kotex for Real campaign is perfectly timed. As this commercial is calling out the men who create tampon ads, women all over the nation are calling out the men trying to make decisions about our birth control, abortions and/or pregnancies, and our lives in general. We are sick of being told that someone else understands what we need more than we do.

These commercials aren't making a direct political statement. But I still think they are making one. They are pointing out the hypocrisy of men making decisions for and about women, and even though their direct subject is the advertising world, this hypocrisy applies just about everywhere.

Pay attention, Congress; Kotex is calling you out too.

4 comments:

  1. So they successfully marketed to you. I'm sure they'll be very happy to hear.
    The ad seems pretty sexist to me, as it's incompetent, borderline retarded, men making all those 'other' ads. You think maybe women make crap feminine product ads? Sometimes it really isn't men vs. women; sometimes it's just women being angry at hypothetical men.

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  2. You make a good point. Not the "incompetent, borderline retarded" part, but yes I'm sure there are women involved in making shitty feminine product ads. However, I also think that those women are still involved in seeing women (as a generalized group) based on ridiculous stereotypes. There are also women trying to pass bills to ban contraception and abortion. It's not just men vs. women, but it is still true that the group in power tends to be men, and that group tends to tell women what THEY think women need.

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  3. who is the actress?

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