The launch of Australian Unicharm brand SofyBeFresh has gained worldwide attention as either a situational comedy or a fat-shaming, period-shaming cliché – depending on which side of the fence you sit on.
The TV ad for the newly created brand, by J Walter Thompson Melbourne, taps into the insights that because the products women use don't make them feel fresh and clean, women don't feel themselves when they have their period. To highlight it, the advert shows a woman and the alter ego that appears when she's on her period: angry, crazy and quite a bit bigger.
The ad itself has received heapings of criticism or praise from both social media and mainstream publications, with some viewers finding it a more honest approach to menstruation than the “blue liquid” ads that permeate the category.
However, other viewers found the ad had a fat-shaming, period-shaming message.
Founder and creative director of female-focused marketing agency Venus Comms, Bec Brideson said lots of girls in her office have had a good laugh at the situational comedy approach that the ad takes.
“The social commentary has been supportive of its honest approach to portraying the many moods of menstruation,” Brideson told AdNews. “Big tick for showing empathy with the audience.
“While humour can be great, at Venus we’d look beyond cliché’s for the deeper emotional truths that can unite a female audience and brand around a shared belief and common cause.
“We’re also careful to avoid negativity in messaging. There is the much-quoted fat shaming that has made this ad famous in social media, and there is the general confusion around the one/two female characters: fat versus slim, bad versus good, hopeless versus full-of-life.”
Ensemble senior creative and head of SheSays Sydney, Yasmin Quemard, told AdNews it is this element of playing into the stereotype which is the core reason she thinks the ad may have bore such a backlash.
“Executionally it's a little bit off centre, so it's actually making fun of the stereotype by taking a normal woman and making her that loud crazy stereotype,” Quemard said.
“So I think a lot of the reason why it's not resonating with women is because of the flat execution – a pretty woman laughing at an ordinary woman is the movie Mean Girls. That should not be an ad for periods.”
The other issue Quemard said is that executionally, it breaks the golden rule of advertising by over-delivering.
“As a creative you're always taught to go back to what the product actually delivers and stay true to that,” Quemard said. “The ad is promising women on their periods that you won't be a mad crazy person, but the product itself is actually 'hello fresh'.”
While it's a tough category to launch a new product in, Soap group account director Rebecca Supanovich drew comparisons to the recent work by Libra as an example of a brand breaking categories in an uplifting way.
“[Sofy] just reinforces that negative stereotype,” Supanovich said. “If you look at the recent Libra work, it has a more positive and empowering message – it really gives a great brand association. But the Sofy ad doesn't have that same warm association to it. It's a bit of a shame.”
Quemard also hit out at comments made regarding the fact that the creative team that came up with the ad were all women and that they should have “known better”.
“We need to stop treating these cases as exceptional,” Quemard said. “Not every woman that gets the chance to write an ad is going to bust out an exceptional piece of advertising – every woman is going to be the same as everyone working in an ad agency.”
“It is part of the problem that we have a women in creative industries. We're never going to get past it if we keep getting held up as the exception.”
In response, the brand released a media statement apologising for any offence that the ad may have caused and reiterated it's to highlight the superior technology that the Sofy brand offers.
“The intention of the advertising is to highlight that women do not feel themselves during their menstrual period and that it is not the woman herself but rather a less effective product that makes her feel this way,” it said in a statement.
“This insight was based on the results of extensive independent research and research undertaken by Unicharm pre and post development of the creative campaign.
“Furthermore before launch the Sofy TV ad was tested with Australian females to ensure that the key messaging and terminology were appropriate for the market. The results endorsed both the campaign’s strategy and creative approach.”
Brideson added that irrespective of the media backlash, the success of the campaign will be determined where it matters – the cash register.
“Time and sales will tell and women will vote with their wallets,” Brideson said. “If the conversation is anything to go by – there is still time to course correct the brand after a launch that has made some impact.”
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