Lunapads Blog

*EDIT: Due to the overwhelming response from the blog community expressing their outrage over the commercial, Method has since taken the “Shiny Suds” commercial down.*

Once again, we are pleased to feature a guest blog post from Rebekah Nathan!

I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to find eco-friendly cleaning products to use in my home. The chemicals that are used in most generic cleaners are a concern for a lot of us, and if you’re not up for making your own natural cleaners, then you’re left with the task of browsing the aisles trying to find the earth friendly products amongst the vast array of cleaning products vying for you attention.

Method Home Products is a company that claims to be both environmentally friendly and free of nasty chemicals. Perfect! However, when I saw the recent TV ad/PSA they have put out, I was left completely shocked and speechless. Treehugger called it ‘disturbingly funny’, but I’d argue that it is just flat out disturbing.

Melissa over at Shakesville has both the video and the transcript if you’d prefer to read it rather than watching, but please note that it comes with a trigger warning. Basically the ad shows a woman about to jump in the shower, when she finds a group of cartoon ‘Shiny Suds’ racing around her tub, left over from her previously usage of a generic and chemical filled cleaner. She is visibly shocked to see them there but they remind her that she had sprayed them there in the first place (read: it is her doing, her fault) and instruct her to get into the tub, one even calling out ‘Scrubsy-dubsy, baby’. The woman continues with her shower, all the while having to listen to the group of suds (which interestingly enough all have male voices) harass her with calls of ‘You know you want it!’, ‘Woo! Yeah!’, ‘Use the loofah!’, when they’re not staring with cartoon mouths agape and panting. Throughout the ad the woman looks frightened and worried, and is trying to clean herself while doing her best to cover her body from the eyes of the Shiny Suds. The ad finishes with the text ‘You deserve to know what chemicals are in your cleaners. Support the Household Product Labeling Acts.’

Obviously the point of this ad is that we need to be aware that chemicals left over from generic cleaners are nasty, nasty things. However, to reenact a scene of sexual harassment, and in a humorous way at that, is not only offensive and triggering, but also trivializes something that is very, very serious and real for a lot of women. Statistics show that in Canada, 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted, and that 87% of women report having experienced sexual harassment .

Not only is sexual harassment something that is real, but to show a woman being harassed and scared in a joking manner in order to sell a cleaning product, gives us a disturbing insight into how women are viewed and valued (or not) in society. Finally, by the Shiny Suds reminding her that she had left them there in the first place and effectively set herself up for the harassment, hints at rape apologism and the idea that women are often ‘asking for’ the unwanted attention they receive by the way they dress, walking alone at night or daring to be sexually independent. Whether this was intentional or not, this all paints a pretty disturbing and depressing picture.

If you want to express your outrage over this ad, you could do so by commenting on the Treehugger post here that celebrates the ad. Alternatively, you can contact Method directly via;

Method Public Relations + Events
Katie Molinari katie@methodhome.com
Rachel Goldberg rachel@methodhome.com

Method Advertising
Henry Yu henry@methodhome.com
Method Social Media
Twitter: http://twitter.com/methodtweet
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/method

As some of you may know, in my prior life before Lunapads, I worked in the field of Finance and Accounting, and got a small taste of what shareholder value and corporate profits meant in the mainstream world of finance.  It was my dissatisfaction with the type of work I was doing that prompted me to leave for ‘greener’ pastures, which, coincidentally, coincided with meeting Madeleine!

Over a decade ago, there was a small collection of organizations who promoted the idea of ethical investing and created ethical funds which consisted of companies that had been screened for their ethical business practices.  What emerged was a niche Ethical/Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) category in the financial sector.  However, many of these funds did not attract the interest of mainstream investors because they didn’t perform adequately (because it’s all about maximizing financial returns in their world).

Fortunately, there seems to be a change in the tide of what investors are looking for, which isn’t all that surprising given the financial meltdown in the past year. (How many millions of people have been affected by the financial market collapse and wondered, where, besides our mattresses, should we be putting some of our hard earned dollars?) During these tumultuous times,  it appears that more and more investors are looking for investments that will not only provide a fair return, but do the right thing for people and the planet. (more…)

Suzanne and I are just back from a whirlwind trip to San Francisco to attend the Green America Business Conference and Green Festival. It was an action-packed 5 days in which we connected with some extraordinary people and organizations, as well as taking in the energy of one of the world’s most beloved cities.

But first, a drumroll…. for those of you who may not have heard the news, we are thrilled to tell you that yesterday Lunapads received the “Shining Light” award at the Green America People’s Choice business awards!  Before I explain what this is all about, I want to thank all of you who voted for us, tweeted and/or blogged about it, or have provided us with any form of support ever.  It was a very big moment for us, and it’s thanks to the enthusiasm of our customers and fans that we were able to celebrate ourselves and in turn the accomplishments of green/progressive/mission-based businesses in general. Thank you!

Without getting into the details, while we didn’t come first in the voting (Care2.com took the top spot - more on them in a later post in case you’re not already a member), our showing was so strong that the fabulous folks at Green America wanted to acknowledge us regardless. “We were really impressed with Lunapads’ showing in our People’s Choice contest.  Up against some larger, broader businesses with vast Internet reach, Lunapads mobilized their customers - a truly passionate following who had nothing but high praise for Lunapads - to pull them within striking distance of the top spot.  For a smaller, niche business to do that, while shining a light on the fact that there’s a green option for literally every product we use, we decided to present Lunapads with our Shining Light Award,” said Andrew Korfhage, Green America’s online editor and coordinator of the People’s Choice Award.

I for one love the idea that there is really an unlimited number of “winners” in the progressive business world, and to just hold up the number one spot leaves out what may well in fact be a majority of the picture - smaller businesses that collectively are making a huge impact. Speaking of which, Suzanne has been crunching some numbers lately, and has come up with the inspiring calculation that thanks to our customers having made the switch to reusable menstrual products, 1 million disposable pads and tampons are now being diverted from landfills every month. Way to go, everyone!

Because of their repeat finish in the voting race, A Lifetime Leadership award also went to Reuseit.com/Reusablebags.com (video interview with founder Vincent Cobb coming soon!) who were recipients of the 2006 People’s Choice Green Business of the Year award.  Many thanks to Alisa, Denise, Andrew, Shireen (who gave a very moving and thoughtful introduction to Lunapads) Misha, Desiree and the entire Green America team.  The conference and festival were awesome events that we will encourage others to attend. See you next year, we hope!

If you had told me 16 years ago when I first started developing Lunapanties that one day they would take me halfway around the world and almost drive me crazy, I would never have believed you. How could underwear possibly do this?

Lunapanties, as their legions of fans will be happy to tell you (ladies, you can stop calling and emailing about when they’re going to be in stock now!) are no ordinary underwear.  The basic idea behind Lunapanties is a hybrid between Lunapads and underwear, where the pad is permanently sewn into the gusset of the panty, with added bands at either end to hold Liners in place like pad-style Lunapads do.

Lunapanties are highly functional underwear that happily accommodate what we have come to affectionately call everyday “random leakiness” to full on menstrual flow. Think: everyday whatnot issues associated with sneezing, laughing, having stayed up late for some (ahem) fun, being pregnant, postpartum, or heck, even your plain old period. Just add liners as necessary, to accommodate your needs.

Knowing we had a fantastic product on our hands, we set out 2 years ago to find new production partners to improve the overall quality and meet customer demand for new styles and colors (cue the Gilligan’s Island theme song)! I’m going to pause for a moment of gratitude for all of you who have waited so patiently while our “3 hour tour” turned into an international odyssey. What took so long? Allow me to explain..

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