Together, they attracted 300 complaints for so-called “graphic” content.
Complainants protested the depiction of a young woman saying “shoving that, up there” while holding a tampon; another typing into a search engine the question “Am I putting my tampon in the wrong hole?” and the image of a young gymnast with a pad “bulging out” of her leotard.
The ABS dismissed all complaints regarding both ads, but the company has released a statement saying the negative attention illustrates “a real and pressing need to break down lingering social taboos.”
“We acknowledge the subject matter may be confronting but periods are a normal part of a woman’s life,” Mitzi Saitzyk, a spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson said in the statement.
“The very fact that these commercials have drawn so much attention supports our belief that there are still some very disappointing stigmas associated with menstruation and young women continue to be made to feel ashamed of the very natural functions of their bodies.”
“We appreciate that some people feel uncomfortable when they see sanitary products on screen but women are familiar with these objects – they see them every month. The feedback we have received tells us that Australian women want the truth, not advertising puffery, when it comes to managing something as real as their periods.”
A Carefree commercial attracted similar attention in 2012 when an ad for Acti-Fresh Liners was named most complained about ad of the year after it used the words “vagina” and “discharge” on national television.
“We don’t shy away from the using real words and real scenarios, which reflect the concerns of real women,” Ms Saitzyk said.
