New TV Ads from Kotex Should Help Debunk Some of the More Pernicious Vagina Myths

On Monday, Jan. 7, the benevolent corporate entity known as Kimberly-Clark will launch an ad campaign for its U by Kotex brand that unabashedly discusses the sundry myths shrouding ladyparts. “Generation Know”, which was devised in part by Ogivly & Mather, will feature 30- and 15-second TV spots in which young women offer testimonials about that time their nanna quietly warned them never to go into the woods while they were menstruating because because bears, catching the whiff of uterine lining, would eat them, or about how it’s bullshit that tampons can lost in the body like a cotton-blend Magic School Bus.

Apart from the TV spots, a series of online mini-documentaries aim to more thoroughly explore the various misconceptions about female biology. To that end, video blogger Kat Lazo confronts unwitting pedestrians with diagrams of and questions about vaginas, something that should make for entertaining (if sometimes disheartening) viewing. The goal for these ads, explained U by Kotex brand manager Lauren Kren, is ultimately to reach out to girls in the 14-22-year-old range and help them cull through some of the vagina myths circulating in the wide, ignorant world:

We talked to girls and found over half of them have trouble separating myths from facts when it comes to vaginal health…this is the first generation of girls comfortable in the space and comfortable asking questions and having a real understanding of their bodies.

Such an understanding starts with being able to talk comfortably about all aspects of human biology, even those aspects that network television only ever refers to in giggled euphemisms.

Kimberly-Clark: Can We Talk…About Vaginal Myths? [Ad Age]