Social Anxiety: A Tried-and-True Strategy for Selling Pads Since 1950

As we've covered before, Kotex were launched onto the American market in the early 20s with callbacks to World War I. A few decades later, they were taking a more conventional approach: needling at your social anxieties. Girls in the know get Kotex; girls without a fucking clue about how to act use some other brand!

Here's a Kotex ad from a May 1950 issue of Modern Screen ("FOR GIRLS ONLY"). Just look at that hat-wearing mom, ready to judge the shit out of any girl who dares to date her darling son. "Why, that poorly-spoken little tramp probably uses off-brand maxi pads, too."

What more could you want than a brand-new Kotex Wonderform Belt, made with DuPont nylon elastic! Better living through chemistry, truly.


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