If you live in Australia and happen to watch TV, chances are you’ve seen the new SOFY® BeFresh™ pad commercial (above) where a woman goes all hermit crab on her life because she feels like “she sat on a jam doughnut”.
Translation: a girl gets her period and all of a sudden becomes a larger body size, emotional, hungry, and, well, just generally unstable. Plenty of viewers don’t love the association of being bigger with an undesirable life where you cry in the shower and scream obscenities at the pizza man, taking to social media, of course, to express their outrage.
So Pretty & thin = good: Fat and emotional = bad. Okay I understand the world better now. Thanks #sofybefresh.
— Jotopia Vintage (@ohmymsjones) September 9, 2015
So let’s perpetuate the fat-shaming stereotypes and misconception that all woman are unstable on their periods… #sofybefresh
— Sandía (@Mrs_Sandia) August 24, 2015
Funny thing is, the actual actress who people believe is getting “fat-shamed”, Rose Flanagan, kind of made us question our own perceptions and not the mastermind behind this ad. “Contrary to public opinion, I actually reckon I’m a massive babe,” she wrote on Twitter.
Contrary to public opinion, I actually reckon I’m a massive babe #sofybefresh #periodshaming #fatshaming
— Rose Flanagan (@roseflan) September 9, 2015
Maybe we all need to check ourselves before we wreck the girl in this ad, who is now inadvertently being called “fat” by most of Australia through the “public opinion” that this ad fat-shames.
She’s probably just having a little laugh about the entire ordeal, but it does make you wonder if she’s a tad disheartened by the new hashtags circulating in her honour.
The woman responsible for the commercial, Jessie Jordan, who you might remember her as outspoken “JJ” from When Love Comes to Town, is also a little taken aback by the reactions to her work, explaining that Rose’s character was intended to be a “metaphor”.
I’m amazed at the outrage my ad for #sofybefresh has caused! The ‘frumpy girl’ is a metaphor! It’s the ‘urgh’ feeling a period brings
— JJ (@JJ_WLCTT) September 9, 2015
Whichever side of this debate you are on, we think Studio 10‘s Sarah Harris sums it all up quite nicely.
.@SarahHarris with a great point on all that pad ad outrage, and where it should be directed at. #SofyBeFresh http://t.co/n1Wd5PagL9
— Studio 10 (@Studio10au) September 9, 2015
We repeat: check yourself.
