Let’s face it, there are certain topics people usually feel very uncomfortable talking about. Personal hygiene, odors, sexual related products; these are usually the ones that take the cake. Well… Now imagine having to advertise products that address these intimate topics or products. Yeah, not something one would call easy.

When advertising these types of products the choice of imagery needs to be selected very carefully. You don’t want your audience to feel uncomfortable  or alienated even if the problem your product solves can be somewhat personal. Some topics are taboo or maybe just extremely personal, yet addressing them is no less important. Menstruation ads for example usually tend to use blue liquid to symbolise blood instead of red, as the latter would come across as too graphic!

Something many brands  attempt to ‘imply’ and ‘suggest’ rather than to address matters in a straight forward and clear manner. Sadly, sometimes these euphemisms can become too vague and therefore completely miss the point of advertising in the first place. Yes, if the consumer already knows the brand they will probably know what they’re advertising, but if the product is completely alien to them, then the advert becomes confusing.

Brands have now slowly started to take on different approaches when attempting to advertise this type of products. The continuous shattering of  taboos in Western culture has allowed advertisers to tackle  what were once embarrassing issues, straight on, becoming more straightforward and honest in their portrayals. Humor is a tool often used by these brave advertisers, who attempt to release the tension of the audience through laughter.

UK’s personal hygiene company Bodyform also decided to take on the comical approach by creating an ad that aimed to respond to a satirical customer’s Richards review on their Facebook page. The ad featured Bodyform’s CEO ‘coming clean’ about the misleading nature of menstruation adverts by apologizing to  Richard the customers review directly.

You can read Richards review on Bodyform’s Facebook page above.

Using animation on these type of adverts can be another solution. Since there are no ‘real’ people or ‘body parts’ that appear, but characters or text representing them instead the viewer feels more at ease. Many companies have already made use of this trick by showcasing their products through animation, that way making the audience forget the intimate nature of the product and view the solution/ product instead.

Vagisil’s ad is a great example. By using animation, women and men feel less uncomfortable viewing such product and the advert sits neatly within the advert breaks alongside more recognizable products.

So remember, here at LoveLove Films we are not scared of tackling these tricky subjects. Contact us at info@lovelovefillms.com or call 0044 (0)1202 537858 to discuss how we can help your brand get the exposure it needs.