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).
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Libresse sanitary napkin ad and leaflet (1999,
the Netherlands)
This recent ad for Libresse in the
Netherlands shows two interesting
features: women's concern about
leaking menstrual fluid showing up on
their clothing, and red as a design
element and the true color of
menstrual discharge, or close to it.
The Dutch and several other European
countries deal more honestly with
menstruation and, I suspect, with many
other facts of life as well. European
women have told me that being more
open about menstruation both helps
them accept it and is a reflection of
this acceptance. And as far as men are
concerned, they are far less
interested in periods than some women
seem to think. The culture of hiding
it creates problems in itself.
The kind Dutchman who has sent so
many items to MUM sent these scans.
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The same woman appears
in the leaflet below. The famous blue
companies substitute for red in
menstruation ads stems from at least
the 1920s; Kimberly-Clark, which makes
Kotex, called it "hospital blue" in
its company history, and Dr. Lillian
Gilbreth discussed it in her 1927 report
to Johnson & Johnson, maker of
Modess menstrual pads.
Not only does the
company use the real color on the
pads, it surrounds them with it in the
ad and colors its packaging with it.
No ducking the issue.
The largest words read,
Still worried about spots?
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Now that's red!
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At left, the
words at top mean "Do you see a spot?"
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