We went to the area where they were giving out the samples, only to find a solitary guy pacing about. There were 4 people in his group, but apparently the 3 girls had run away and gone to the canteen, explaining the lack of the hard sell tactics. He gave us the samples readily enough, though he didn't let me take part in the lucky draw for the voucher giveaway. I chatted a bit with him and it turned out that he was the only guy in the finals of the Kimberly-Clark Young Marketer’s Award competition.
Returning to Chatterbox, YC broached the idea of carrying out an experiment, and several of us swung into action, with Justin kindly videotaping the whole process (yes, a second video in 2 days. And if everyone is good I will have another video tomorrow!)
[Addendum: Youtube videos follow
]
(Download a zip file with all the videos: http://s10.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3LET9UM2361XY1WHE4IPEJB2HS
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2MQ4IJP8)
A video transcript follows:
Narrator: And today we are testing a new brand of Kotex, uhh, sanitary pads. [Ed: Notice that the packaging is most misleading.]
YC: Between the overnight and the ultra-thin
Ultra-thin on right, overnight on left
Narrator: First, we have artificial blood (blue food colouring we found diluted with lots of water, like in the ads)
YC sticks some black coloured tape to mark on a glass the water level we will use for all the setups.
Girl: Too much and you have the red cheek (?)
YC shows off his jacket which proclaims "Busty"
Fake blood is poured over the control, a teabag (unfortunately, we could not readily find any other brand of sanitary pads, nor were we willing to spend the time, money and effort to rush down to the coop to buy a pack of 10, of which we'd only use 1)
Teabags suck at sucking up artificial blood
Me: Our control has evidently failed.
YC: A bad control anyway.
The ultra-thin is wet.
Me: Wow. Magic - it is all absorbed!
The overnight is wet.
We feel for dryness.
Oddly enough, the ultra-thin is dryer. [Ed: The ultra-thin was damp, the overnight was a little soggy]
YC: Yeah, because too much spilled over.
Me: As you can see, overnight pads are not as... better than ultra-thins. [Ed: I got confused by our screwy setup]
Incredulous, we feel the pads again.
YC: It's like wearing wet pampers when you were a young kid, y'know? That doesn't feel right. This, at least, feels dry.
Ling is upset because the flow simulation sucks (blame pad ads, not us!)
YC: We cannot control all the variables.
The cameraman (IIRC) simulates what happens if someone's water bursts while she's wearing a pad.
The soggy aftermath.
Someone in the background: Is this a group project?
Narrator/cameraman: ... is not recommended that you use these as chemical waste spillkits.
We dissect the pads.
YC: This is from the ultra-thin. As you can see, it's all crystalised
I detect no scent from the odourless, jelly-like crystalised semi-solid.
YC on the overnight: It seems different, so we shall tear it open... There're no crystals! It's just a pad.
Some of the jelly-crystal is taken out and put on YC's finger.
The two are compared side-by-side
We interview the guy who gave us the free samples
Why was the overnight pad damper than the ultra-thin?
Guy: I have no frickin clue.
He is very happy that we're helping promote Kotex products.
( ) is the quick ( ) that he conducted. Thank you for your great contributions to science and for your (diverse knowlege) [Note from transcriber: or something like that. garbled.]
[Ed: If anyone can transcribe what the Indian guy is saying, please leave a comment here, send me an IM message or use the feedback form. Thank you.]
Narrator: This video has been brought to you by anybody but the University Scholars Program. Thank you for your attention.
Someone: "what kind of video is it? does it involve gunther and his sunshine kids? does it involve (gasp) wo-hen??!
or is it (deep indrawn breath) kimberly, the pink ranger???"
Someone else: "eh, what's this video about sanitary pads
i thought nus upskirt
disappointing"
Kotex Dri-Comfort
Introducing the new revolutionary Extra Dry Cover - finally women don't have to choose between the dryness they love and the comfort they desire! It truly offers the best of both worlds!
Unlike other pads, Kotex Dri-Comfort keeps you dry and comfortable without being:
X Itchy
X Plasticky
X Sticky
X Hot & uncomfortable
X Irritating to the skin
1) NEW - Extra Dry Cover: Stay fresh and dry
2) NEW - Double Anti-Leakage Channels: Extra protection
3) Safety Zone: Fits securely and traps fluid
4) Quick Absorbing Pores: Better absorbency so you feel fresh and dry.
o 300% drier than other brands
o Luxuriously softer for ultimate comfort
o 100% better leakage protection
Sounds impressive, but I still think tampons are better.
Given how cheap and prevalent sanitary pads are, anyone who can think of an alternate use for them will be sure to strike it rich. To mop up rivers of sweat, perhaps?
