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Tampon maker's beaver ad riles Australians
GoDaddy supposedly wrestled with Fox for months to get a beaver joke into the Super Bowl. No dice. But Kotex has managed to get a whole beaver-themed spot on the air in Australia for its U brand of tampons. It shows a woman flitting around town and the beach with a beaver in tow. The voiceover says: “You’ve only got one. So for the ultimate care down there, make it U.” The ad has drawn “a large number of complaints,” but so far, it hasn’t been pulled. |
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Um...yeah. Another shit ad. Crappy ads are so much easier to do.
That's why people who can make really good ads should get paid huge sums of money, IMO. There aren't many out there.
Posted by: David | Mar 12, 2008 11:00:41 AM
Sheesh, not even shaved...
Posted by: Editz | Mar 12, 2008 4:39:55 PM
Fantastic concept. The ad looks like it's achieved everything intended - controversy and public attention for a product which has previously been lost in an amatuer advertising campaign; centered around coloured packaging and how it relates to the lives of gen y women. Well done Kotex!
Posted by: Jess | Mar 12, 2008 8:59:55 PM
I've shared this ad with a few other young women in Kotex's demo, and we've all laughed so, so hard.
Mission accomplished, in my mind.
I wish they would allow this on American TV.
Posted by: D.W. | Mar 16, 2008 2:56:18 PM
There are millions of women out here who have strived very hard not to be considered as just a body but to reduce us to just one part is disgusting and humiliating
Posted by: Nola | Mar 22, 2008 6:14:32 AM
This company makes feminine pads, too. Here's a clever follow up ad for marketing that product: It starts with a vibrant young woman dragging around a camel's toe...
Posted by: Kim | Mar 23, 2008 2:26:02 AM
i dont even understand this ad!!!
Posted by: | Mar 23, 2008 7:42:10 PM
yeah me too
what is so offensive about the beaver??
seriously someone explain i dont get this
Posted by: Chelsea | Mar 25, 2008 6:12:48 AM
I feel uncomfortable explaining this, but here goes...
The animated creature is supposed to euphemistically suggest that a woman’s most private of private parts is her “furry beaver” – which is derogatory, slang vernacular for it (see also, “box” or "pussy" or "taco" or Oprah’s recently popular "va-jay-jay"). The Kotex marketing company claims “beaver” was the 11th-most frequent term chosen by females participating in a study when they were asked to use an alternative name for it. I doubt the study did little for their self-esteem, though. To be fair, handing a box of tampons to another box, or a cat, or a Mexican menu item would be even more difficult to figure out (and possibly offensive to Hispanic men, too).
The risk in placing an ad like this, seriously, is that company leaders behind the Kotex brand might lose credibility with consumers (not to mention their own female employees) when they simultaneously offer claims of caring about and valuing women.
...please don’t ask me to explain what “vernacular” or “euphemisms” are.
Posted by: Kim | Mar 25, 2008 9:23:09 PM
i know I am a man, but pull the stick out of your ass, and quit being so uptight. Its a funny ad, and tries to bring a bit of humor to a usally very touchy type of ad. If it was men and talking about penises 99% of men would laugh and get on with their lives.
Posted by: Adie | Apr 3, 2008 8:28:19 PM
Clearly you need to be female to understand why the ad is offensive. This company has ensured I will never buy their products.
Posted by: Michelle | May 14, 2008 1:48:32 AM
The more I see this commerical the more it annoys me. Maybe the question to ask is - 'in what context was this euphemism created and by who?' (An assignment for a linguist to analyse). Perhaps this is why it is offensive. Another form of ownership, and another way of defining women by the 'others'.
Posted by: Anna | May 30, 2008 2:46:17 AM
I think those of you who are offended by this ad are missing the point. The heroin of the ad is friends with her beaver. She's treating it and taking care of it. It's much better less offensive than current American advertising which champions discretion and secrets. "No one will ever know." It's a period. They happen. Get over it. Why do vaginas have to be such a government secret?
Posted by: Valerie | Oct 21, 2008 3:18:15 PM
Thank you, Kotex for distracting the feminist harpies for a while. We have to learn to laugh at our selves and our bodies. As a man I've been called a 'dick' and an 'asshole' many times. I never once thought that I was being objectified or sexually oppressed. Get over yourselves! Maybe if you took your beavers out on the town for a little spa day you would feel better, too.
Posted by: redsquid | Jan 24, 2009 5:27:53 PM
Hello – I am hoping that you may be able to help me.
I am looking for an ad that I regularly see on Australian television – I think it’s for tampons or something
At the end of the commercial – the scene has two girls sitting on a couch together at a bar/club and one of the girls has short white hair and is wearing a silver sparkly top and the voice over says something about chicken fillets and she looks down her top at her chest and they both laugh.
Does this ring any bells at all?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Posted by: Laurie Glynn | Feb 25, 2009 6:35:59 PM
