Have you ever seen an ad like this? I've been writing about the 'blue goo' menstrual product advertising trope, and thought I'd share some findings in the hope of connecting with some of the makers of these now iconic images.

The liquid is blue saline, called 'blue goo' in the industry, and is actually used to test products. I think this is still true. Historian of technology Sharra Vostral covers the history of tampon testing and 'blue goo' here: https://catalystjournal.org/index.php/catalyst/article/view/28788

Before TSS, testing of products ramp up as corporations compete to deliver the first super-absorbent tampons. Some healthcare researchers try to test with blood, but this doesn't catch on as it's a complex methodology with many ethical and practical problems.

During and after TSS testing becomes increasingly important as consumers want to be reassured regarding safety. Vostral covers the TSS episode here: https://nyupress.org/9781479815494/toxic-shock/

Meanwhile, advertisers are bound by censorship laws, making the advertising of menstrual products a creative nightmare. They are banned from using certain words, colours, and cannot show unwrapped products. TSS changes this, as the need for technological information increases.

At some point, advertisers are introduced to the blue saline testing regime by their corporate clients. They start featuring 'blue goo' in their ads; - that is, an honest insight into how these products are actually developed and tested.

Advertisers of menstrual products tend to be big agencies, but the people working on the account tend to be women, and the pay is not great (not to speak of damage to reputation). I would love to interview people who made ads like this! Let me know if you have a contact!

I find it strange that these advertisers made a trope that became iconic (if hated), yet reap no benefit from it. An example of menstrual taboo, perhaps?

Anyway, it's not the first time blue has been used to sell menstrual products. Remember Kotex from the 1920s? Even Rely used blue-green tones, all in order to get as far away from suggestive reds as possible.

There has been plenty of critique of the 'blue goo' ads. My favorite is this artwork by Jen Lewis, 'If I bled blue', 2010s. Lewis photographed her (red!) blood and coloured it digitally, in response to a comment about her artwork being too frank. Love it!

But most criticism of 'blue goo' advertising centres on ridiculing the trope. Many people have pointed out how patronising it is, and how it contributes to menstrual stigma. It can also be confusing and misleading.

However, the blue goo imagery was at least honest, revolving around giving consumers product information and technological insight. Today's ads may use feminism and art to sell, but do you know how or where they are made? Are the reds of 2010s simply the new blue?

I'd love to talk to advertisers who know more about this. And I'd also love to hear deeper critiques of the blue saline system from scientists. Feminists were pioneers in critiquing the 'blue goo' trope, starting a conversation about product safety that remains relevant.

But today, menstrual product advertisers have moved on from blue. While we may laugh at the 'blue goo' trope from the 1980s and 1990s, are we paying attention to the tropes being made today?