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Premenstrual syndrome, like the hangover, has long resisted cure. But hope for millions of women suffering from the myriad of symptoms (stomach cramps, headaches, generally feeling terrible) has arrived from an unlikely source: milk
And what's a potential cure without an ad campaign? The California Milk Processor Board has released a new effort touting the white stuff as relief.
After the Journal of the American College of Nutrition published a study revealing “clinical trials in women with PMS have found that calcium supplementation effectively alleviates the majority of mood and somatic symptoms,” the California milk lobby saw an opportunity to market its calcium-rich beverage.
From the Milk Processor Board's web site, gotmilk.com: “A majority of women who consumed 1200 mg of calcium a day for three months reported being less irritable, weepy and depressed, and suffering from fewer backaches, and less cramping and bloating. With 300 mg of calcium per glass, milk is the perfect PMS comfort food.”
So, theoretically, four glasses of milk per day for three months could help make women with PMS less irritable and uncomfortable.
The ads in question depict nervous-looking men clutching cartons of milk, with pithy copy poking fun at the victimization of men by their female counterparts suffering from PMS. “I’m sorry I listened to what you said and not what you meant,” and, “I apologize for not reading between the right lines” are among seven sets of text used in the campaign.
An accompanying microsite, everythingidoiswrong.org, is meant to be a humorous page for men seeking support for “PMS management.”
The top of the page encourages, “Women: Help your man help himself” with links to Facebook and Twitter, ostensibly to build buzz around milk's curative properties. But the chatter on social media has been less than positive. Does marketing to women through men really work?
The Bay Citizen took the opportunity to Storify the topic on Twitter:
© The Bay Citizen, 2012
Kate McGlashan
This reminds me of the anthropologist Emily Martin's theory, expressed in her classic work "The Woman In The Body," that PMS is the only time of the month that women refuse to meet the societal expectation that they will put up with boatloads of bullshit.
Marie McIntosh
If this were Facebook, I would totally LIKE your comment. But it's not so I will just say it:
LIKE.
Thanks,
MM