A New York Times story last week was headlined, “Gen Z Wants Feminine Care Products to Just Say Vagina.”
The money graph:
Companies like Here We Flo—which sells reusable period pants and biodegradable period pads—and Tabu—which sells vibrators marketed “to increase comfort and stimulate blood flow, which helps maintain vaginal health”—have also made it to mass retailers, and have a similarly direct voice on social media. Here We Flo’s slogan is “Life Gets Messy: We’ve got your back. (And your front!)”
Great Scott!
In the mid-1960s, my dad, Thomas Murray, was the creative director for Campell-Ewald, a Detroit advertising agency that served General Motors and other clients.
At some point, Dad sent one of his copy heads—Ron somebody—to Chicago to learn about some potential new business from a consumer products company.
In the days after he returned from Chicago, Ron seemed to be avoiding my dad, who wanted to know what he’d learned on the trip. What was the product? Would it be worth a pitch?
Finally called to my dad’s office and cornered, Ron responded in a stage whisper, anguished at having to form his lips to say:
“It’s a bush spray, Tom!”
And really, how was old Ron supposed to write an ad campaign about a product like that? “Well,” my dad may well have said, gesturing toward the two women in the copy bullpen, “we could have assigned it to one of the girls.”
Times change, folks—and sensibilities, too. If you want to keep up, you’ve gotta go with the Flo.
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