HelloFlo - First Moon Party
There was a time when feminine hygiene ads were essentially lots of shots of girls rollerblading and coy visualisations of blue liquid soaking into cotton.
But then in October 2012, Bodyform - one of the chief culprits - changed the rules. It produced an to a man's Facebook tirade against the category's marketing and it’s never been the same again.
Last year, tampon subscription service HelloFlo took it one step further with its ad campaign. No women skydiving, jumping on beaches or people throwing frisbees to thumping 80s soundtracks - just one angry little girl, a very funny script and a welcome dose of reality for the social media age.
The ad’s authenticness and edgy humour was a huge hit for the relatively unknown brand, attracting almost 8m views and 203,000 shares in 2013.
Flushed with success, HelloFlo has now returned with a follow-up ad, "First Moon Party", which we think is safe to call the funniest ad about tampons ever made. Intentionally funny, at least.
Immediate success
Judging by the ad’s immediate success we are not the only ones giggling. The video has already surpassed the original, attracting 200,000 shares and 19m views in less than a week. It features a young girl so desperate to join her "blood sisters" at school she paints red nail varnish on a sanitary towel to fake her first period.
Her mum quickly rumbles her, but plays along, organising what can only be described as the party from hell to celebrate her daughter’s milestone. Of course, with lines like "Grandpa is bobbing for ovaries like a champ" and "Do you know how hard it is to find a uterus pinata?", the ad’s edgy humour and awkward subject matter will certainly not be to everyone’s tastes.
Humour is one of the key drivers of video sharing across the social web, but one of the most difficult to get right. As many comedians have told us for years, making people laugh is the hardest job of all.
But you certainly have to take your hat off to HelloFlo for coming up with a piece of content that would not look out of place during an episode of hit US TV show Modern Family.
Created to promote HelloFlo’s period starter kit, the script is almost flawless, and the little touches make repeat viewing a must.
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