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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To email the makers of Always and tell them they are stupid?

148 replies

belledechocchipcookie · 20/08/2011 16:49

I don't want scented sanitary towels or ones that are 'pretty,' I just want them to do the job they are supposed to do! There's no need to make them 'pretty,' no one's going to see them and they will change colour anyway.

OP posts:
superjobee · 20/08/2011 19:11

this thread has made me laugh! between almost having a heart attack at getorfmycarbsclaires name all these carby claire names tickle me pink! to guinea pigs in knickers to washable pads and stained seats ive had to hold my bump whilst i laugh in case the poor baby thinks its go time!!

budgieshell · 20/08/2011 19:20

I hate the fact that the little flowery packets sound like your opening a bag of crisps in the tiolet cubical.

I hate even more that we all sneak around and are all secretive about why we have to keep powdering our noses.

Just once I would like to wave my little packet over my head and shout "blobby woman coming through, make way",

I really don't care what colour are pattern they are, please please don't stop making them.

Foggles · 20/08/2011 19:30

My Aunt Flo has retired now - so I am no longer in need of aeronautical devices in my undergarments.

However, like Mandy2003 I have previously experienced a do-it-yourself fanjo wax on more than one occasion with those bloody wings.

Red2011 · 20/08/2011 19:31

takes deep breath as is newbie and plunges in anyway

YANBU - why do they think we want flowers and fragrance? As has been pointed out, they're not going to stay like that, are they.

I think all sanitary products should be free - condoms are at the FP clinic - and you chose to have sex but you don't chose to have a period.

closes eyes, winces and prepares for onslaught

Foggles · 20/08/2011 19:35

Welcome Red2011 Smile

AfterTheGoldRush · 20/08/2011 19:41

wings pull my pubes too....i end up walking like i am chewing a toffee (this is a nod to very old joke)

LoopyLoopsTootyFroots · 20/08/2011 19:55

Red20011 You'll only get a pasting if you say something others disagree with - no-one will disagree with that, surely? Welcome.

Original poster
belledechocchipcookie · 20/08/2011 20:01

Ok.

Dear P&G.

The women of Mumsnet have concluded that you believe us to be small girls. We're sick of how you market your sanitary protection, we couldn't give a monkeys that they are now 'pretty', we don't want scented towels, we don't want bleach, we just want ones that catch the flow! We Also couldn't care less that they have pretty wrappers, they end up in the bin so surly you're polluting the environment more then necessary. As for your 'wings', we're personally offering to give you a bikini wax so that you can see for yourself how painful they are when things don't go according to plan. Why don't you try shoving one of your 'pretty' towels in your knickers to see how it feels? As for your 'have a happy period', what sort of moron came up with this marketing idea? Please stop patronising us and treating your customers like little girls who like flowers and pink.

Many thanks.

OP posts:
Red2011 · 20/08/2011 20:16

Thanks Loopyloops (forgive me for not typing the whole name),

I'm used to posting on forums where people will disagree with you just for the sake of it!

Loving this thread - hating the wings.

Original poster
belledechocchipcookie · 20/08/2011 20:22

Hello Red. It's lovely to mumsnet you. Grin Jump in, it's the only way and oh, people will disagree with you for the sake of it here aswell. Wink They are all over the internet, I don't think they get out much.

OP posts:
ohokthen · 20/08/2011 21:09

Well Loving this thread. And for a few days after P, I have to remember to carefully pull down knickers thinking of the pain --- Then I remember Yipee i'm off NO pain.

Its like a gawd damn Plaster at times.

Pinched the letter and posted to my F'book. And changed my pic to an Always one. Getting lots of attention. May I politely suggest you all do the same.

Always may pay attention then.

BertieBotts · 20/08/2011 23:21

The Cottons ones do have wings, yeah, but they are the most ineffectual wings ever to the point of not sticking to anything. Which is actually a blessing. Never been waxed by them either, and I'm pretty bushy...

BertieBotts · 20/08/2011 23:22

I use a mooncup now though. Just dropping that in there in case some of you have somehow never heard of one Grin

Glitterknickaz · 20/08/2011 23:23

I couldn't agree more with the feck off have a happy period sentiment, and couldn't give a rat's left one about 'pretty'. They do also give me thrush.

I proper heart my mooncup.

BuxomWenchOnAPony · 20/08/2011 23:38

Oh good, not just me then. Sanitary products will never be aesthetically pleasing, they are just there to do a job. Flowery, fragranced, prettily packaged sanitary towels are at once patronising and misogynistic. 'Have a happy period' makes me actually angry, as do the other euphemistic advertising campaigns that reassure us that we can appear clean and healthy whilst actually bleeding unhygienically and stinkily into our pot pourried pants.

sayithowitis · 21/08/2011 00:44

I first used Always in the early 90's after the birth of DC2. I found them much better than the maternity pads that had been available when DC1 was born. I'd paid a fortune for them in Mothercare and they were useless. Always were so much better and I could get them at the local chemist/supermarket, rather than having to make a special trip into town to go to Mothercare.

And, IMO, whatever problems they may present, with wings etc. nothing, absolutely Nothing can compare to the horrendous abominations that called them selves sanitary towels when I first started my periods. There was something incredibly demeaning in having to wear a special 'belt' that had little hooks back and front so you could hook the loops from the pads onto them . They were uncomfortable because there simply was no room for adjustment, they were about an inch thick, heavy and covered with what looked like surgical gauze. And they leaked. terribly. I will never forget the embarrassment that I and others suffered when we stood up from a seat at school, only to realise that we had leaked all over the back of a skirt. Thankfully it was an all girls school, so at least we didn't have to contend with the comments that would have been forthcoming from boys.

So do I like Always? Yes, I do and I still use them. Their adverts are another thing though...

missmogwi · 21/08/2011 01:27

I'm feeling your pain Sayithowitis; I also had to use those towels. I think they were called Dr. Whites. They used to leak every time, so much so that I used to wear an underskirt as a layer of embarrassment protection. A bloody underskirt.

When I described them to a younger friend she was horrified, and looked at me as though I was born in middle ages and not the 20th centuryGrin.

These days I am all fancy and spoilt by Lilets. Obviously I have not heeded my mums warning many years ago that they were work of the devil.

differentnameforthis · 21/08/2011 04:22

tak1ngchances

Most of your criteria is fulfilled by using reusables. Made of cotton fabric, it feels just like a fresh pair undies each time you change them. One initial outlay.

Good for environment, no horrible flood soaked pads in landfill.

My periods have been v light since using them (there is the belief that chemicals in shop bought pads have a pulling effect & make periods heavier & more painful) & less crampy.

differentnameforthis · 21/08/2011 04:30

purplepidjin

I made my own, it was my second project after getting my first ever sewing machine. I drew around a disposable for shape/size & made a template.

I used cotton outer & terry inserts. Have never leaked!

HengshanRoad · 21/08/2011 04:48

Yawn @ "embarrassing" stories of tampons and sanitary towels leaping out of bags/pockets to humiliate their owner. It's menstruation. Deal.

SirSugar · 21/08/2011 06:35

I absolutely loved the 1980s New Bodyform wedge stylee ones, they made perfect sense to me

and at least you can't leave one in by mistake, like I did with a tampax once (for two full weeks; my mothers surprised I didn't die of that)

Morloth · 21/08/2011 06:43

One of the brands here has trivia printed on the backing paper. Is called Odd Spot, I kind of like it.

My periods have been made much happier since I discovered Naproxen, is a lovely drug, I take lots at the start and then a dose whenever I feel a twinge.

giraffesCantChaChaCha · 21/08/2011 09:06

I asked for a sanitary towel in hosp and they gave me a big blue nappy!

viewfromawindow · 21/08/2011 09:15

I used to work in marketing for tampax! Agree with many of the comments made about scented and coloured products, not things i would want to use. The way to see if there is a real market for them is to see if they are still about in 18 months time. We used to get a tampax allowance of 2 large boxes a month. Not sure how heavy they thought my period was.
I worked for lots of different FMCG companies over the years but this job had the BEST focus group work. Teenage girls in Dublin will live with me forever. Bless them they were SO uptight and adamant that nice girls just dont use them, and the post pregnancy women were hilarious and totally shamless!
I do remember being part of a project to recruit a new ad agency and being totally impressed that the creatives had spent a week wearing s.towels to find out what they were like. Given the were both men in their 30's I thought this showed dedication. On the other hand I have also sat in meetings with the Tesco buying manager (a man), our national account manager (a man) and the trade marketing manager (a man) and thinking you really don't get why this product (it was a new product launch) really is better!

viewfromawindow · 21/08/2011 09:20

Oh and one other thing..... When marketing these products you are not allowed to actually say what they do. Listen to the language carefully and you will see it is all implied not specific. Which is why you end up with bloody irritating comments about "freedom". Also the water used in demos is not allowed to be red!