Saturday, June 23, 2012

Feminine discreet sensual my ass

Here is an interesting fact, FDS, was originally called Feminine Deodorant Spray, when it was introduced into Canada by the Alberto Culver company in 1970. This might not be one of the most commonly known facts or memorable dates for most Canadians, but it is something that I was reminded of today, when I read this humorous article about feminine hygiene, by Naomi McAuliffe, in the Guardian.

Naomi starts off with the Michigan politicians, who got banned for saying the word vagina, in an abortion debate and then goes on a rant about the now discontinued Linger vagina mints, the Smooth Groove camel toe camouflage pad and the FemFresh froofroo ad.

It is not that I am an expert on feminine hygiene or masculine hygiene, for that matter, if there is such a thing, but ever since the launch of FDS I do tend to pay more attention. Back in 1970 I was a 22 year old, assistant manager of a Miracle Mart Department Store in Dundas Ontario and ignoring the advice of my all female staff, I decided to go large on the launch of this new Health & Beauty category, feminine hygiene and bought two gross (that is 288 units for the metric crowd) of the new FDS.

Unfortunately, after two weeks we only sold two units, so I decided to promote the product by moving the remaining 286 units to an end cap at the front of the store facing the cash registers. Then to further entice our female customers to try the new product, I opened three packages and with masking tape marked them as testers.

Something I did not live down for my remaining two years in the Dundas store.

6 comments:

Beijing York said...

LOL, testers! You really did that? Ah youth and its confidence.

Feminine hygiene products are a testament to that old advertising truth, fear sells. I guess the women in Dundas weren't moved by the fabricated concept that they were smelly down there.

WILLY said...

Hi BY

It is like the Axe line of products for men. they have a product for every male part, which then leads one to question the brand name.

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The Mound of Sound said...

Hey Willy, you were ahead of your time. They've taken this idea a giant leap forward, first in India and now in Thailand. You can actually find the Indian ads on YouTube.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/23/thailand-vaginal-whitening-wash

Chantal said...

Well, you look like a true-born marketer! What a shame that those ladies didn't get your progressive way of promoting FDS back then. But I guess you'd be much more successful with such ideas today, even though it can be rather tough in Canada sometimes...

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