Outsmart Mother Nature

This is a pretty modern ad, and it's part of the "Outsmart Mother Nature" series which follows Mother Nature delivering "monthly gifts" in red boxes. This ad in particular focusses on menstruation as something that gets in the way of romance and sex. Mother nature is portrayed as an annoying woman in the series, who relentlessly chases people around the streets and gets in their way. I think she is bawdy in a Fran Drescher kind of way - she's both comical, and horrific. See the series setup video below for a better idea of her:



Firstly, this ad shows that we are now able to associate the colour red with menstruation. The gift comes in a red box, not a test tube full of blue liquid. Secondly, this woman's dream boyfriend is able to communicate with Mother Nature in a way that makes him appear as though he isn't uncomfortable talking about menstruation. This is definitely a new development. Involving men in feminine hygiene product advertising has existed in the past, but it's predominantly been focussed on the "uncomfortable, nothing to do with me" side of things. Thirdly, this woman is not concerned with doing aerobics, yoga, or riding a scooter. She is a modern woman, (despite the setting...a stylistic device which despite it's romantic ye olde time feel is actually working to make the ad more modern) who is going out there and getting some action at the helm of a ship(in her dreams, anyway) with a poetic, donut lovin' metrosexual prince charming in a loose white shirt.

The dream takes place on a ship, and on ships, there are treasure chests. Treasure chests full of Tampax. Because Tampax Pearl tampons are just as valuable as actual pearls. They're so good, that Mother Nature is stuck for words, (we know that's a big deal from the setup). With Tampax Pearl, you can kick Mother Nature's ass.

Of course, this is still a Tampon ad. The woman is actually asleep, in an incredibly comfortable looking bed made entirely with white linen, and she's definitely not going to have to do any laundry in the morning.