Got Milk? Well this month it sees the line is Got PMS? The California Milk Board’s controversial ads that used PMS to sell milk have been taken down following a largely negative reaction by those who claim the ads are sexist and insulting.
The original campaign centred around the website everythingidoiswrong.org (now redirecting to gotdiscussion.org) where men were positioned as the true victims of PMS. The site featured images of frazzled men under banners such as “I’m sorry I listened to what you said and not what you meant” and “I’m sorry for the thing or things I did or didn’t do”, as well as interactive features such as an apology generator. According to the California Milk Board, milk can reduce the symptoms of PMS- so men can reduce their suffering during this time by offering their wife or girlfriend copious amounts of milk.
Unsurprisingly, many women felt that the campaign viewed PMS as a joke, and undermined the fact that for some women, PMS can be a horrible experience, often accompanied by abdominal and back pain. There is no denying the influence PMS can have on some women but the ads portrayal of women as irrational beings, whose craziness is intensified when they have their period, making their partners petrified to come home it taking it a little too far.
Although the milk board claimed that the ads were supposed to be funny, educational, and address a problem that, although largely affecting women, can also greatly affect relationships.
The original website was taken down, but now the controversy surrounding the ad has generated a massive response on Twitter (#gotdiscussion) and Facebook. The milk board itself is hosting a discussion of whether or not the ads were offensive (gotdiscussion.org)- with many now asking whether they have changed their strategy to cash in on the controversy or if that was their intention all along.
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