(Johnson & Johnson) Modess ads: "Silent Purchase," June 1928; another from 1928, 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French Modess, and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.See other marketing devices: Ad-design contest for menstrual products in the United Kingdom; B-ettes tampon counter-display box and proposal to dealers, with contract; (U.S.A., donated by Procter & Gamble, 2001); "Your Image is Your Fortune!," Modess sales-hints booklet for stores, 1967 (U.S.A., donated by Tambrands, 1997)See a Modess True or False? ad in The American Girl magazine, January 1947, and actress Carol Lynley in "How Shall I Tell My Daughter" booklet ad (1955) - Modess . . . . because ads (many dates).CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about
menstruation and Would
you stop
menstruating if you
could?
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Ad for Nupak menstrual pads
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The ad connects comfort in stylish dress to comfort in wearing a pad, which many women found, and find, bothersome. To clinch the association, the ad calls Nupak an "accessory," which in fashion circles can mean gloves, etc. The lowly pad, lowly also in the physical-space sense, thus gains status, as does the wearer. Or so the company hoped."Daintiness" and "dainty" appear in the text; see the enlargement, below. Read more about these words.Read Dr. Lillian Gilbreth's evaluation of Nupak, in 1927, made at the request of Johnson & Johnson. |
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Read the enlarged text, below. |
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I wonder if Jane Bradford Potter is a real woman, and if the other women's names appearing in menstrual products ads are authentic. A named person's writing ad copy for menstrual products or giving advice had probably started just shortly before this time, possibly in 1921 with Mrs. Barton's pitching Fems pads. She wrote a booklet, by the way, called Personal Daintiness. |
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Above, read two instances of "dainty" and one of "daintiness," "exquisite," no less.I admit I had never heard the word"immaculacy" until I read it here (and within an hour I read it again).About the same time, Kotex sold a powder for pads called Amolin.Dr. Lillian Gilbreth found in a 1927 survey for Johnson & Johnson that women preferred to pin their pad to a belt rather than use another form of attachment; it was more secure. But maybe Gripad Belt, in the text above, worked. Note the use of "affair," which strikes me as hoity-toity thirties talk, elevating the level of the ad - and of the subject, menstruation. |
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Like some Modess ads of
the era - here,
for example - the lady dresses smartly
and has the distant glare seen in much
advertising for women's clothes. Note
the flat chest and mannish jacket,
but, even ignoring the skirt, there's
no mistaking her for a man. The
effect, again, is to dignify an
awfully basic concern, menstruation.
Modess later had a decades-long ad
campaign consisting of
beautifully dressed women. Then the
brand flopped.
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"Silent Purchase," June 1928; another from 1928, 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French Modess,
and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.