This may sound like an odd question, but you’ll understand after seeing this new campaign from O.B. Tampons. Admittedly, I am not in their target market, so my opinion matters little if at all. But I am very interested in knowing how women feel about the delivery of this message.
To be clear, the fact that O.B. Tampons has a “green” angle in their advertising is great. It’s unique. It’s beneficial to not only the buyer, but to all of us. Even a guy like me can appreciate that. But I think they’ve gone a little overboard here in an effort to go viral. They forgot that just because you can do or say something, doesn’t mean you should. And if you’re not sure or if you have any doubt, do it in a small way first to see the reaction. Well, O.B. either was sure and had no doubt, or they are closing their eyes and hoping for the best as they’ve gone all out — long form video, Facebook page, links to petitions, etc. We’ll probably see some print ads too.
This video starts out nicely, with a beautiful ocean shot that has us all going “ahhh”. Right when you start to feel like it’s heading toward a standard “save the world” pitch, it switches gears — completely. While I wouldn’t say I was uncomfortable watching this spot, I would say that I was close enough to uncomfortable to be distracted from the point. The main selling proposition was a minor player, an after thought. And that’s a shame, because a message like that deserves to be front and center.
Take a look and let us know how you see this. At this posting, there were only 258 views. You can also see what they’re doing on Facebook with this at this link.
That is very interesting, I would have never thought using a tampon with a plastic applicator would be bad for the environment.
I get the message, but a crab?! really?! The messaging is lost with the stupid construction bit. It would make a bigger impact with a different visual, especially to the demograpic it is trying to target.
Christina commented that she didn’t know this problem existed until now, so that point got through. But does the “stupid construction bit” weaken their main selling point — that using o.b. is better for the environment? I think so. I feel they spent too much time on the humor (the problem) and not enough on the selling point (the solution). Worse, while they want this to be viral, I believe only the most outspoken women will be sharing this on Facebook.