Menstruation isn’t exactly the most delicate topic to discuss, whether in casual conversation or for marketers and advertisers. In advertising, we typically see euphemisms which vaguely allude to, and dance around, the matter at hand. You hear words like “flow,” “absorbent” and “keep you dry” instead of “period” or “menstruation.”
Enter HelloFlo’s new advertisement, “The Camp Gyno.” This video doesn’t just break the mold for tampon advertising, it vaporizes it. HelloFlo has the audacity to use such feather-ruffling words as “vag,” “vagina” and “period.” But this ad is hilarious and effective. After I watched this video, I immediately went to HelloFlo.com to see what this company was all about.
HelloFlo is a company which, as you can see in the climax of the video, mails menstruation care packages to girl’s for their first period, fully equipped with tampons and, yes, even candy.
The way HelloFlo is marketing to women is smart, too. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get a care package every month? If girls get accustomed to receiving monthly deliveries when they first hit puberty, it will make picking up feminine hygiene products at the store seem like a chore, and you don’t even get any candy, either.
This ad definitely took a chance by not parsing words, but that chance is likely to pay off for HelloFlo.