Kotex is ditching blue liquid in their new ad campaign

This month, Kotex has initiated a new ad campaign that uses red fluid to simulate menstrual blood. Though an obvious choice for representing menstruation, it has historically not been a common one — ads for menstrual products have typically used blue liquid to depict menstrual fluid. 

The first advertisement for period products was published in the 1920s, but not much changed in the following years; ads have continued to reflect a patriarchal society deeply uncomfortable with the reality of menstruation. The word “period” wasn’t explicitly used in a TV commercial until 1985. Menstruation product brands highlight the efficiency of their products by describing them as “discreet,” and, of course, even the actual color of menstrual blood was hidden beneath the guise of blue liquid — a color also used by diaper advertisers to depict urine. A successfully handled period is considered a secret one in these ads. 

This discomfort, at least in part, stems from the age-old, worldwide mischaracterization that period fluid is “dirty.” The Old Testament contains several passages that label a menstruating woman as “unclean.” In Nepal, a widespread practice known as chaupadi involves banishing girls from the house and into a shed during their periods because they are “impure.” The practice was not banned until 2017 after a girl died in her designated shed. 

The idea that menstrual blood is impure, however, is scientifically inaccurate. The composition of this secretion is 35 percent blood — the rest is uterine tissue and lining, bacteria, water, and electrolytes. The blood that is present in menstrual flow is the same as arterial blood, meaning it is not waste and should not be treated with more disdain than the blood shown in commercials for band-aids.

Yet women still internalize the stigma that surrounds periods and are significantly impacted by that stigma. Fifty-eight percent of women have felt embarrassment due to being on their period, which makes sense given that 44 percent of men have said they’ve joked about women’s periods. Further, 73 percent of women hide their menstrual hygiene products in their sleeves or pockets before using them, and 70 percent have asked friends to check if they could see their pad showing. Twenty-nine percent of women have canceled plans if those plans would have revealed they were menstruating. In England in 2017, 137,700 girls missed school for lack of efficient menstrual hygiene products, and in India, in 2016, 28 percent of girls missed school for the same reason.

Last year, the menstruation product company Libra took on this stigma and released a commercial that showed blood-red water running down legs in a shower and a pair of stained underwear. According to the Guardian, the Advertising Standards Board received many complaints about allowing this commercial to air. One person complained that “periods are not a secret, but they are private matters of personal hygiene.” There seems to be a lack of backlash about the commercials dealing with deodorant and sweat, which are also matters of personal hygiene. 

Hopefully, Kotex’s new campaign will be better received. As Kotex’s creative and design director Sarah Paulsen told The Guardian, “Blood is blood. This is something that every woman has experienced, and there is nothing to hide.”