Kotex Commercial

This media text utilizes the notion of the ridiculous examples that other female hygiene product commercials portray, to sell their own product. This U by Kotex commercial uses sarcasm to show the target audience (females and maybe men who will introduce the product to their partners) that they do not make exaggerated claims, but instead just simple products that get the job done. The message intended also expresses that "that time of the month" is not as glamorous as most commercials of this kind make it out to be, and is just a normal part of every day life for females. This display of humor may even be effective in selling the products because viewers can find it funny as well as completely true.

Some post modern features that are appear in this commercial include the rejection of universality, self-awareness, and distrust. Normally, you would see a typical female hygiene product commercial displaying the image of innocence, beauty, purity, and freedom. This Kotex advertisement breaks free from those norms and rejects the idea of those girly, skirt twirling, blue liquid using, examples in ads that are not realistic representations of a womans experience during their monthly cycle. Another aspect of the media text that is out of the ordinary, is the use of one interviewee throughout the entire commercial. An average woman is speaking rather than the conventional model-like figure that is usually seen advertising these products. This text is self-aware being that the woman speaking is in an interview environment, as well as knowing she is being filmed. Distrust is also apparent because it makes viewers question whether those other commercials advertising female products really make them feel the way they are presented. It challenges the idea of these products being any more spectacular than what they are actually meant to do.

The commercial is filmed as an interview in what it looks to be like a typical teenager's room. The speaker and clips of examples of other commercials are being alternated, with the speaker's narration being voiced over those clips. This engages the audience attention on the interviewee's perspective, and the most of the entire commercial is filmed as medium or wide shots. The lighting used for the interview environment is seen to be normal, unlike the shots of the exaggerated examples, which have bright or glowing  lighting.