Ad for Freedom menstrual tampons, sanitary napkins and panty pads, 1990, Germany, Girl! magazine, from Kotex

Different ad for Freedom menstrual tampons, sanitary napkins and panty pads, 1990, Germany, Girl! magazine, from Kotex

Compare the American "Modess, because . . ." ads, a French Modess ad, a French ad featuring just a man!, and ads for teens.
See the box for the French version of this tampon
See Kotex items: First ad (1921) - ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in amenstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links: homepage | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets for girls (mostly) directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | facts-of-life booklets for girls | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | menarche booklets for girls and parents | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor | olor | pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | puberty booklets for girls and parents | religion | Religi�n y menstruaci�n | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | Seguridad de productos para la menstruaci�n | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants & panties directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
Leer la versi�n en espa�ol de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepci�n y religi�n, Breve rese�a - Olor - Religi�n y menstruaci�n - Seguridad de productos para la menstruaci�n.

 

Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health home
Former museum - future - visit to the museum comic strip

Freedom menstrual pads ad (2 pages, Kotex)
September, 1984, France
20 Ans magazine

Someone's telling the amused�embarrassed?�model to squeeze the pad just so and roll your eyes. CLICK! Got it! Even though she doesn't look disapproving enough we can't do this all day. She's getting a huge amount of francs already. And the humor in her face shows a French joie de vivre.
As do other Freedom ads. But K-C really let loose with this four-page series for Confetti four years later.

No woman liked roping, the bunching and twisting of a wet pad when the menstruating woman squashed it between her moving thighs.

Companies like Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kotex, created and bought a zillion patents, this one to keep the pad working better by keeping its shape.

This magazine, translated as 20 years, aimed at young women who read French.

See the box for the German version of a Freedom tampon. See a similar German ad, from Girl! in 1990. See a plastic shopping bag with a menstrual pad ad on it - German, of course.

Below: Each of the 2 pages measures 8 x 11 1/4" (20.3 x 28.6 cm).
My translation:




























"At the end of an hour the traditional pads make a bow tie..."

Below: Two pages later we find this second ad. Both are on the
right-hand page, the page readers' eyes see first.

[Large words over picture] "but my new Freedom holds its form better (Oh, what comfort!)"

[Small words at right]
My new Freedom pad for normal flow benefits from an exclusive and patented material: Coform. Made in one piece, it changes shape much less than a traditional pad made of several layers.
Plus, it's very absorbent, very thin, and covered with a material that stays dry in contact with the body.
Every day of my period my new Freedom pad keeps its form ... and I keep my comfort!

[Top drawing] Traditional pad at the end of an hour
[bottom drawing] My Freedom pad with Coform

[Red words] THE PAD WITH COFORM
THE COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE PAD
See a German ad, from Girl! in
1990 and funny versions from England.
Compare the American "Modess, because . . ." ads, a French Modess ad, and a French ad featuring just a man!

See ads for menarche-education booklets: Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1933), Tampax tampons (1970, with Susan Dey), Personal Products (1955, with Carol Lynley), and German o.b. tampons (lower ad, 1981)
See also the booklets How shall I tell my daughter? (Modess, various dates), Growing up and liking it (Modess, various dates), and Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1928).
And read Lynn Peril's series about these and similar booklets!
See another ad for As One Girl to Another (1942), and the booklet itself.
 

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