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Meet me before first period
So a bit ago Carrie posted something about deodorants aimed at pre-teen girls; a target demographic known for lots of things, but I've never really found them to have offensive body odor. Relatedly, a friend of mine working at an ad agency here in LA tipped me off to a new Procter and Gamble product: pre-menstrual tampons. They're called Almost, and I think they will be sold under the Always&trade brand.
Yep. Tampons aimed at pre-teen, yet-to-menstruate girls. It sounded absurd, but she confirmed it for me and even snuck out to me some roughs of the site they're planning, which I'm mirroring on one of my own servers; you can see it here.
She's taking a risk by letting me make this public, but she feels creeped out enough working on it that doing so makes her feel a bit better. So nobody judge her too much, ok? Thanks.
Now, feel free to be disturbed. 
Posted by Jason Torchinsky on 08/01/2005 | Permalink
Comments
Can I be the first to call bulls**t?
Posted by: Nick | Aug 1, 2005 7:33:23 AM
Let me be the second.
Posted by: Nina | Aug 1, 2005 8:44:58 AM
Yeah, there's no way that's real. One of the tampon colors is called "red menance" for goodness sake. I think you got Punk'd.
Posted by: Lisa | Aug 1, 2005 10:51:02 AM
The string business is just too much. Now, I don't doubt the product development, but it DOES seem like too much.
Can you confirm further? I sent a link to this article to a few of my friends and got laughed at for being gullible :(
Posted by: amy | Aug 1, 2005 11:34:29 AM
Just want to join the chorus of people saying 'bullshit.'
Posted by: Joe | Aug 1, 2005 12:22:11 PM
It's on vgg.com -- The Van Gogh Gogh's are a "sketch comedy group" ...
Posted by: X | Aug 1, 2005 12:38:01 PM
Yes, vgg.com is a sketch comedy group. And Jason, the member of the group who's domain has the "Almost" page WRITES FOR STAY FREE!
Says so in his bio- http://vgg.com/jason/
So yes, this ad could be a gag by a comedy guy. Or it could be a friend of Carrie's hosting a page on his site for her.
Posted by: Jake | Aug 2, 2005 12:37:39 AM
Wait, Jason made the post (my bad). And Jason is hosting it on his own server. Don't think he'd pull a hoax like this and shoot his Stay Free cred in the foot.
Posted by: Jake | Aug 2, 2005 12:39:03 AM
I think it probably is BS (the kite string is just too over the top), but at the same time, it's totally something I can see P&G doing. Just have a visit to the Sparkle Body Spray Blog Carrie linked to or the Being Girl site. Or even read up on the history of P&G suppressing information about TSS and the effects of their products on PMS.
The thing is... I think I've seen this somewhere before... That makes me think even more that it's a joke.
Posted by: andy | Aug 2, 2005 4:25:32 AM
It's "medically incorrect" to use tampons when you're not actually menstruating - I don't use them after about the third or fourth day, for instance - so I'd have trouble believing that such a product, if real, wouldn't call down the wrath and ire of the medical establishment and the Surgeon General on itself. Also, clearly the second tampon should be called "green menace". (But yeah, that kite string says "Parody" to me.)
Posted by: Ms .45 | Aug 2, 2005 7:35:50 AM
Great hoax!! I love the 'fun flavors' - Red Menace, Blue Note, Orange County & Green Party! And what makes a great hoax is the believability of it all.
Posted by: Princess Wild Cow | Aug 2, 2005 12:30:58 PM
I thought I should just verify that this is, indeed, a joke. I figured it'd be pretty obvious because of how absurd it is, and most people commenting here seem to have realized that, but just to be safe, it's a joke. I made it, there's no ad agency, it was all just an idea Carrie and I had. I decided to post it without coming out and saying it was a joke because, well, it seemed more fun.
So really, I guess I owe commenter Jake an apology. If it helps, my cred's a dented, leaky lump of crap anyway, so another bullet in it's foot won't matter much.
Posted by: Jason | Aug 2, 2005 2:19:17 PM
I meant in ITS foot. Not "it's".Oops. Last thing I need is MORE evidence of my idiocy.
Posted by: jason | Aug 2, 2005 3:06:54 PM
Bravo! Up until I saw the names of the "flavors" I was falling for this one (didn't read the comments first, oops). The little flash animation of the bright red period narrowly missing a basket didn't seem that absurd for an advertising firm, not after the one I saw for the shaver with a pair of scissors chasing a timid pair of fuzzy kiwifruit.
Premenstrual tampons might be excessive, but I could reasonably picture bubblegum scented, glittery "feminine hygiene spray" or Hello Kitty pantyliners hitting drugstore shelves in the near future.
Posted by: frippy | Aug 2, 2005 8:22:07 PM
I'll never love again.
Posted by: Jake | Aug 3, 2005 8:27:24 PM
hahahahahah
Posted by: RF | Aug 12, 2005 2:19:00 AM
hahah very funny...great joke u guys r hilarious!!! good one!
Posted by: katie miller | Aug 18, 2005 1:02:44 PM
Yes. florida timeshare ( http://www.x24x7.com/florida-timeshare.html )
Posted by: florida timeshare | Oct 2, 2005 5:10:52 PM
you never know girls about to start their periods may want to use them
Posted by: lizey | Jul 9, 2007 5:46:48 PM
Bob - "I don't trust women."
Jo - "Why not?"
Bob - "I cant trust anything that bleeds for a week and wont die."
Posted by: Orange County Advertising Agency | Jun 10, 2008 5:44:53 PM
