Bodyform campaign - couldn't believe it!

Sarahsaver

I think this is an interesting debate, just that my initial reaction was total surprise and I wonder how much Bodyform have thought it through.
It is not patronising to think that women should continue as they traditionally did, but it is lame of us in the west not to challenge what WE do.

Sarahsaver

Well this is it, they have not got a market there - YET!
After this they may have;) (thanks to OH for the brainwave!)

Hapless_2

Ok well I would struggle to function in that situation. Can I ask whether you use washable sanitary protection? i think it is an admarable thing to do, but I do not.

Apparently menstuation in zimbabwe is a taboo, not an unembarrasing bodily function, according to this female trade unionist

Yes I do use washables.

as for menstration(sp) being taboo, well according to OH it never has been over the border in S.A. only among the whites! He doesn't think he has met many Zim women who had a problem talking about it either. Taboo for men but not for women.

Even when he was in the army in apartheid times he would be approached by black women and told..."I am bleeding I can have babies" Which as he said is quite scary considering he was an 18yr old white boy doing his conscription who would probably be ordered to open fire on them the next day!

What is the point in giving disposibles to women in a country that doesn't even have a proper waste disposal system and where HiV is endemic? Where rubbish is left on the streets for months including hospital waste? How hygenic is that? (info, Zimbabwean friends of ours who have just got out of there, she does use washables and always has done)

moonrakerz

I fear that this may be a more cynical marketing ploy than first meets the eye.

This sort of thing has been done before, first introduce the 'poor downtrodden natives' to the delights of Bodyform (or as has been widely reported lately - formula baby milk). If you can get shoppers in the West to actually pay for the 'free samples' - even better !

Once these poor people are persuaded that they can't do without this product, even more of their very small disposable income goes into the pockets of the multi nationals.

dagrowler

Blimming hell, I agree Moony! Scary corporate monsters!

When i used to use disposables I'd hate the thought of all the stuff i was throwing out, not only because of the Eco consequences but also because I've paid for something which i can only use once!

Why should we encourage a whole new culture to start using something which is ruining our planet (maybe a bit of an exaggeration but you know what i mean)? I personally think more people in the west should use disposables to reduce our waste instead.

GreyPilgrim

Ignorant bloke here. i just had to find out what a mooncup was.
Don't you just love wikipedia

dagrowler

GreyPilgrim wrote: »

Ignorant bloke here. i just had to find out what a mooncup was.
Don't you just love wikipedia

LOL, do you feel enlightened?

Dustykitten

I felt the same as OP when I saw this last week. If Bodyform think it is such a great idea they should send a whole batch over - but how long will they last and as has already been mentioned once you introduce the women to them will they then wan to buy them. Cunning plan.

I hate the emotional blackmail the company are using, who could not feel for the other women when buying their own SP?

The campaign really made me think, particularly about the environmental impact of every woman using disposable so I have just ordered my mooncup (triple points at boots for a few days, piggy points and lots of other great deals - see the bootsgrabbit thread).

Debt_Free_Chick

Sarahsaver wrote: »

surely women already have means of dealing with menstruation, and developing countries dont really need anything so polluting as sanitary towels (neither do we but thats another matter...)

I'm sorry, but that's a very NIMBY comment. If you are going to ban "polluting sanitary towels" from "third world countries" as they are so damaging to the environment, then you would have more benefit banning them from the "developed" world. After all, far more are consumed here and in terms of reducing consumption and therefore pollution, then banning them here would have a far, far greater effect.

there was a stand with Bodyform products, and they are encouraging women to 'buy an extra pack to send to a 3rd world country'

You don't really think that Bodyform actually give a stuff, do you?

It couldn't possibly be all about corporate profits, could it? After all, the message is that YOU BUYan extra pack - not that they will donate a pack :rolleyes:

Sarahsaver

I said we could do without them too, and also I do not think they care, and I am not going to buy their products anyway.