The Super Bowl and the highly anticipated ads the come with it are behind us, but companies are still vying for ad time at the next big event – the 92nd Academy Awards. According to Business Insider, a 30 second add during the awards costs approximately $2.6 million dollars (https://www.insider.com/surprising-facts-2020-oscars-academy-awards-ceremony-costs#nearly-a-third-of-this-years-nominees-are-women-the-highest-proportion-ever-18).
In the past, the show has been hosted by a number of comedians, many of whom have not shied away from controversial topics. However, the Academy has deemed certain advertising too controversial. Along with prohibiting advertising for “guns, gun shows, and ammunition” the Academy also banned advertising for feminine hygiene products and hemorrhoid remedies, including an advertisement for feminine hygiene products for new mothers. The Academy deemed an ad by Frida Mom too graphic. The ad depicts the difficulty of a postpartum mother using the bathroom, the reality all mothers face after giving birth.
Women are becoming more and more open about the realities of motherhood on social media. Celebrities like Chrissy Teigen and Amy Schumer received praise for sharing postpartum photos of themselves in hospital underwear and for discussing the impact motherhood has had on their bodies.
Even with this progress, mainstream media is not ready to portray basic realities of motherhood. The overall ban on advertising for feminine hygiene products demonstrates that discussing women’s health is still taboo.
See the full article (and the ad by Frida Mom) here: https://www.businessinsider.com/frida-mom-oscars-ad-postpartum-baned-because-too-graphic-2020-2?amp