I found this French ad for Tampax via Tom Murphy at The Ephemera Network. Tom doubts this ad campaign could be run here in America — for quite obvious reasons.
The French translates to “I am like a fish in water.” Not that that clears anything up.
Because no matter what language or the word for “fish,” any society with a female population is aware of that fishy smell — though less realize it’s likely due to Bacterial Vaginosis; they just mock it and women in general with tacky references to hyper-sexuality. So I’m really surprised that this ad could run anywhere.
Not just because of it’s potentially suggestive humor, but because why would a company, especially a feminine hygiene product, want to link itself to such an offensive thing? Especially as some experts believe that tampons can change the normal balance of vaginal bacteria; don’t think that’s how you want your target audience to think of you, Tampax.
I cannot believe they actually approved that ad! Those French are WACKY!
Makes me think of some weird sci fi/ horror movie plot. It’s odd how much sci fi and horror are erotica based.
Catherinette, the French are indeed wacky as a general rule ;) But you’d think Tampax would be smarter than this.
Laura/Thatgrrl, the reason sci-fi & horror are so erotic is that fear & arousal are very closely linked… Not to mention, the former are often as sexist as the latter :p
Ewww….what were they thinking?
My guess is that they were not thinking, David.
*sigh*
The marketing & advertising department needs a babysitter.
This is actually from a semi-parody French magazine that runs a number of fake ads as a commentary – sort of like AdBusters. This was not an actual Tampax ad.
Hi Buddy,
Thanks for the info on this; I’ve also posted a note about (and link to) your comment to the person who originally posted the ‘ad’.
If you’re right about this, then it’s a bit embarrassing to be so fooled — but then sharing & learning is what the internets are all about for me, and I sure learned something today, didn’t I? ;)
It’s probably a fake made by a famous late satric french magazine called Hara-kiri that made funny, bad taste, fake adds in the 70’s and 80’s.
You can see some covers here (adults):
http://blogaupoil.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/couverture-du-jour-hara-kiri/
b/c it’s funny!