USI Vice President for Equality and Citizenship, Marie Lyons Photo: Conor McCabe Photography
The banning of the Tampax ‘Tampons and Tea’ television advertisement is disappointing and serves to highlight the lack of information currently available to those who menstruate on period products and how to use them correctly, said the Union of Students in Ireland.
USI Equality and Citizenship Vice President, Marie Lyons said: “The recent decision of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland to ban the ad based on complaints saying it is ‘offensive,’ ‘vulgar’, ‘embarrassing’ and ‘crude’ is wrong, sends a dangerous message and should be reversed. The complaints highlight that significant education and proper conversations about menstruation and periods are badly needed.
“This advertisement provided information on how to insert a tampon correctly, which is vitally important information for menstruating young people and was provided in a light-hearted and non-graphic manner.
“This ad was created in response to research that suggested 42 per cent of people who use applicator tampons do not insert the applicator correctly and that 79 per cent experience discomfort while wearing tampons. These findings highlight that this ad was providing information and bridging an information gap which exists as period products and menstruating is not necessarily taught in our schools or spoken about at home.”
The USI is backing calls for the ad to be reinstated and urges people to sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/advertising-standards-authority-for-ireland-asai-bring-back-the-tampax-and-tea-ad?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_23783801_en-GB%3A1&recruited_by_id=b8365290-d300-11ea-97e2-c3871bb35954&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial