Once known as much for moral rectitude as soap, Procter & Gamble is pushing farther into the world of new media with an effort asserting that men can suffer from menstrual cramps.
Not long ago, it would have shied away from any discussion of women's menstrual cramps, much less sponsor a playful campaign pretending that they afflict men, too. Times have changed, and even
Procter, the nation's largest advertiser, is looking to push the envelope with viral campaigns online.
Big marketers seem to think they can take greater risks online because users
tend to be younger and more accustomed to risqué humor. A host of blue-chip advertisers are also running such viral campaigns, including American Express, Coca-Cola, Ford and Wendy's.
P&G's ThermaCare products are intended to treat women with menstrual pain, but the new campaign tracks an imaginary institute that is studying the imaginary problem of "cyclical nonuterine
dysmenorrhea"-- i.e., men with cramps.
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