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AIBU?

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Original poster

To hate the Kelly Brook Tena ad

37 replies

Knickerbockerglories · 16/10/2020 13:47

Why is it normal for women who have had babies to be incontinent and need Tena knickers?
I’m pregnant and I know my body will change but I’m not going to be happily accepting a level wetting myself that requires specialist underwear as a long term consequence... if a man had an event (obviously not childbirth but say an accident or injury) that caused him to become incontinent in his 30s I’m pretty sure there would be a reasonable level of medical intervention.

It seems in other countries women are given guidance and help to prevent damaging consequences of pregnancy and birth and aftercare such as physiotherapy, yet in the uk you just have to accept that it’s inevitable as “you’ve had a baby”

I’m not expecting everything to be back to normal on day one but the way Tena are merrily advertising their products as if it’s totally normal for young women to be incontinent worries me.... I mean, it’s normal for elderly men to have enlarged prostate gland which causes urinary urgency and problems and it’s treated, they’re not told it’s normal and to toddle off and stock up on Tena man pants!

OP posts:
NC866 · 16/10/2020 13:53

Agree, it’s dire that women are just expected to accept incontinence as normal in their 30’s! There’s so much that can be done to help but it’s just not offered. I suffered a prolapse after my second child and I was completely shocked and horrified - 2 pregnancies and NO ONE had ever mentioned that this could happen. The GP I saw afterwards couldn’t have cared less either. Postnatal care in the UK is shockingly bad.

StripeyandConfused · 16/10/2020 13:54

Is that Kelly Brook?

Svelteinmydreams · 16/10/2020 13:55

Totally agree with you OP ( have not seen Kelly Brook advertising them- thankfully, but the rest makes sense)
That said Tena are simply being a business and exploiting a market. Think prenatal care and baby class could focus on this and, where it becomes a problem Physio should be suggested. After all it’s something we can work on pretty unobtrusively.
The good thing about these ads is that more women accept that wearing a pad/ protective underwear is preferable to leaving damp patches on their daughters sofa ( looking at you Grandma ).

PeachesTheFlamingo · 16/10/2020 13:55

Kelly Brook?

jessstan1 · 16/10/2020 14:01

I haven't seen a Tena ad with Kelly Brook. She hasn't had children anyway.

I do agree the adverts are crass. Nobody should accept incontinence and it is treatable.

happyjack12 · 16/10/2020 14:05

it's NOT Kelly Brook!

ThomasHardyPerennial · 16/10/2020 14:06

That's not Kelly Brook, but I agree with everything else you said.

tulippa · 16/10/2020 14:06

Do you mean the one with the woman with brown hair who talks about 'a little bit of wee'? YANBU by the way.

VainAbigail · 16/10/2020 14:17

You mean the silhouette advert? That’s not Kelly Brook, it’s an actress called Emma Connell.

MJMG2015 · 16/10/2020 14:22

I think it's a good advert.

Not letting a little bit of wee stop her going about her life is good advice.

It doesn't mean other solutions aren't being sought, but it's not going to be resolved over night! And it'll give women with other causes of incontinence some support.

Lexilooo · 16/10/2020 14:24

Because of profit, misogyny, an under funded health service, and a tendency to minimise women's health issues.

FuzzyPuffling · 16/10/2020 14:25

I hate the "bigger boobs - blessed" part of it too. As though having larger breasts was a universal good thing. (Here's me wishing mine were smaller)

fabulousathome · 16/10/2020 14:42

I agree. My husband asked me if it was normal? My kids are adults now and I'm fine in that department thank you very much.

A most peculiar advert. It makes me. cringe

Fink · 16/10/2020 14:44

I haven't seen the ad, but I don't think that in a capitalist system a company can be blamed for marketing their product (as long as they're not lying etc.). I do think that postpartum incontinence should be better dealt with in the UK, by healthcare professionals and others, but that's not the fault of a company who make a product for incontient women. Unless Tena are actively trying to increase their market by lobbying against better provision for women's health I can't see what they've done wrong.+

+I mean, I can see what they're done wrong. But that's because I don't believe market capitalism is the best way to run a country. Given that it's what we've got, however, I can't see what Tena have done wrong within the system. It's just not their responsibility to prevent or treat incontinence.

Northernsoullover · 16/10/2020 14:45

I watched that advert in front of my teens. I felt obliged to stress that I wasn't incontinent...

SunshineCake · 16/10/2020 14:50

Midwives have complained as most women don't end with incontinence. And really, at thinking it is Kelly Brook.

Kelly hasn't had children and in fact suffered a late miscarriage or still birth years ago Sad.

Thedogscollar · 16/10/2020 14:51

OP I could have written your post. As a midwife I hate that advert. No woman should be happy and accept it's "just a little bit of wee"
This can lead to women accepting this is the norm and not seeking help.
It's wrong on so many levels.

ImSleepingBeauty · 16/10/2020 14:56

There’s plenty of medical support for post birth incontinence if you are prepared to do the exercises and attend the appointments. In my experience anyway.

Strawberryplum · 16/10/2020 14:57

I hate the advert with a passion with the erectile disfunction advert and vaginal dryness one. It’s not Kelly Brooke though

Wishimaywishimight · 16/10/2020 15:02

Why are there no such adverts for men with incontinence? I was watching the "protected and pretty" ad recently and couldn't imagine the male equivalent with the camera pointed at a man's crotch (just in case the viewer is unsure as to where "a little bit of wee" might appear.

MMM2 · 16/10/2020 15:04

I agree, I dislike this advert, but trying to get consultation appointments about that little bit of wee consist of frequent cancellations and a long wait, whilst hoping that little bit of wee doesn't become a flood !!

jessstan1 · 16/10/2020 15:41

@FuzzyPuffling

I hate the "bigger boobs - blessed" part of it too. As though having larger breasts was a universal good thing. (Here's me wishing mine were smaller)
Yes! It's not always true either. Mine virtually disappeared after I stopped feeding.
Lamentations · 16/10/2020 15:48

That ad gives me the rage too. I did just think 'whoa that's Kelly Brook?' Sure it isn't though. Times aren't that hard for her.

Original poster
Knickerbockerglories · 16/10/2020 16:03

Sorry Kelly Brook! My mistake, I’m not (or wasn’t when I thought it was her) annoyed with the Kelly Brook/ the actress, more the flippant attitude that it’s fine and just buy this product and get in with it...

I’m just fed up with the attitude that women have to put up with things like this (in general, not every case) when comparable situations with men are treated as a medical problem, not an inevitable inconvenience...

And the fact she’s so happy her ‘problem’ has been solved by buying incontinence pants not seeking medical help and solutions... as a country we seem to think it’s acceptable and not worth treating, I find it very frustrating

OP posts:
SunshineCake · 16/10/2020 16:20

I really dislike the protected and pretty crap, the whispering woman in the shampoo advert where she thinks she is being clever, "over 40" and the Inovo ?? bloody fire starter woman.