White horses, blue liquid and much talk of "freshness": such are the markers of one of advertising's most awkward genres: the feminine hygiene product ad. Except in the case of a new ad from Australian company Libra Invisible. In just 30 seconds, Libra has proven not only that a pad ad requires none of those things, but that without them, such a commercial can be attention-grabbing, even funny.
The company's newest commercial features a lone dude sitting at home with a box of Libra maxi pads. Bored and solitary, what's a guy to do? Use the pads to create some awesome costumes, of course. With the help of the pads and their wings, our protagonist becomes Wolverine, a robot, a ninja and more. The fun only ends when the man's girlfriend comes home -- with her parents.
Since the ad is fairly entertaining on its own, it might not be apparent out of context just how revolutionary it is. Look closely: no butterflies, beach walks, and no white backgrounds, clothing, bikinis etc. None of the usual let's-sell-a-product-to-menstruating-women-by-pretending-no-one-menstruates tropes so typical of feminine hygiene advertising that even a Kotex ad poked fun at them in 2012. Someone find the genius behind this thing and give that person a medal.
There is probably a more critical, "End Of Men" way to read this commercial. It is, after all, yet another example of an Omega male -- a man who by all counts should be an adult, but never really grows up -- being humiliated by his girlfriend. And the source of said humiliation? One of the most feminine products in existence.
But for just a moment, we'll enjoy the new approach to advertising a product usually presented so absurdly -- and think about all the ways our maxi pads could come in handy this Halloween.
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