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I never say this, but I absolutely love this tampon commercial. Really. When was the last time someone said those words to you? Okay, fine, about a month ago when we saw this amazing Russian tampon ad. But this one is even better. "Camp Gyno" is about the future, parents. It's the future of your daughters' periods.
In this ad for HelloFlo (a tampon delivery service), a young teen girl becomes the queen bee of her camp just because she was the first to get her period. Instead of being horrified or embarrassed, it ups her social standing. She becomes an expert, highly sought-after for advice like the great high priestess of menstruation. And then it all goes to her head and she abuses her power and that's when the other campers start receiving first period starter kits ... but that's not the point. The point is, I want to live in a world where this actually happens.
I just love the way this commercial normalizes periods, dragging it out of the taboo trunk and making it the rite of passage that it should be. This is something like the third time I've written about making periods more awesome in as many months (like my roundup of first period gifts and rituals). And I don't know, maybe I was traumatized a little by getting my period ahead of my peers. It was definitely not awesome. NO ONE was seeking advice from me. (But maybe that's a good thing, because I would have gone the way of the Camp Gyno, too.)
I don't have a tween or teen daughter, so I don't know what the menstrual landscape looks like nowadays. Have girls moved on? Are they more relaxed about the whole thing? Have we made enough jokes about it now to neutralize its dark power? I hope so. I don't dispute that it's messy and inconvenient and makes you achy and saps your energy. But it also marks an important transition in a girl's life -- you will soon have the power to create life. You can choose not to use that power, but still, you have it. That's profound. Just because it happens to almost every girl doesn't make it any less amazing.
Okay, I'll get off my soapbox. Even if you're not into my Red Tent trip, you'll have to admit -- this commercial is freakin' adorable. It is the best tampon ad ever in the history of tampon commercials. Go away, the rest of you tampon ads, with your leaping about in white pants and your vials of blue liquid. Who bleeds blue liquid?!? You have to see this.
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Do you think teens now feel differently about their periods than you did when you were a teen?
Image via HelloFlo/YouTube
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
