Advertisements for sanitary napkins have always been ridiculous. Most of them project the natural occurrence in women as something to be shameful of and then go on to ‘correct’ the problem by providing a solution.
Often, the ads show young girls/ women riding horses or playing a sport to project the idea that by using a particular brand of sanitary protection, they can overcome the physical limitations imposed by menstrual cycles.
Few other ads are more demeaning by showing women clad in spotless white clothes sitting around on all-white sofas who appear to be proud of achieving the ‘unachievable’.
But a new ad has hit an all-time low by showing girls eating pickles and inviting the target audience to “eat the pickle”.
Well, in India, many cultures believe that it is not appropriate for girls to eat pickles during that time of the month. It is obvious that the campaign intends to address one of the most common taboos regarding menstruation.
However, it does not serve its purpose as the urban, educated audiences don’t need this piece of advice and the rural girls who suffer the most due to such myths do not get to watch such ads.
One is bound to wonder whatever happened to progressive advertising, which does not show menstruation as something shameful to begin with.
