Alex Hern

Dispatches from the front line of the internet

Fighting snark with snark: Bodyform viral video destroys commenter

Snark, snarkier, snarkiest.

By Alex Hern Published 16 October 2012 15:40

When Bodyform, the feminine hygene company, received a snarky comment on its Facebook page which went viral, it only had one option: up the snark. It rose to the challenge admirably, and produced a video which had me laughing uncomfortably loudly in the NS newsroom:

The original comment, to which the ad is a response, came from its Facebook page, and is reproduced below. It garnered 84,000 likes:

Hi , as a man I must ask why you have lied to us for all these years . As a child I watched your advertisements with interest as to how at this wonderful time of the month that the female gets to enjoy so many things ,I felt a little jealous. I mean bike riding , rollercoasters, dancing, parachuting, why couldn't I get to enjoy this time of joy and 'blue water' and wings !! Dam my penis!! Then I got a girlfriend, was so happy and couldn't wait for this joyous adventurous time of the month to happen .....you lied !! There was no joy , no extreme sports , no blue water spilling over wings and no rocking soundtrack oh no no no. Instead I had to fight against every male urge I had to resist screaming wooaaahhhhh bodddyyyyyyfooorrrmmm bodyformed for youuuuuuu as my lady changed from the loving , gentle, normal skin coloured lady to the little girl from the exorcist with added venom and extra 360 degree head spin. Thanks for setting me up for a fall bodyform , you crafty bugger

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34 comments

Thu, 2012-11-01 00:53 — Rednotdead (not verified)

It's real, it exists....as a woman and mother of a teenage girl....yup definitely real. This, though made me laugh out loud! Both Richard's comment and the Bodyform response were hilarious and were taken as the tongue in cheek posts that they were meant to be. Let's not look too deeply into this, that time of the month is not pleasant, interferes with daily life and putting up with it for 1week out of 4 would put anyone in a bad mood, so anything that makes it funny is much appreciated. Well done both!

Wed, 2012-10-31 09:18 — Pavlova

What happens is that once a month women stop fancying men, and they see them for what they really are. And just like before we hit puberty, we realise boys are not cool and funny and sexy, but are smell, loud and incredibly irritating.

Mon, 2012-10-22 14:30 — Andr3w (not verified)

I think both of these are pretty funny. If I were bodyform I might even have felt the need to invent the facebook comment, if it were not actually genuine.

There! I managed to fit references to Voltaire, the existence of The Deity, advertising and periods into a single sentence.

Sun, 2012-10-21 18:47 — Formed Body (not verified)

Bodyform have done a great job in co-opting the New Statesman in their advertising.

Wed, 2012-10-31 03:06 — Willie Johnson jr. (not verified)

Agree! These clever advertising companies. His name would be Richard, of course.

Fri, 2012-10-19 17:22 — Egad Man (not verified)

Looks like lots of people here have had a sense of humour bypass !!

Neither the original Facebook comment or spoof video reply are serious !! I'm sure some people just go round looking for plots concerning prejudice wherever they can to make their lives feel fulfilled.

Fri, 2012-10-19 15:17 — Miss Capri (not verified)

I haven't seen the video yet,but good for them for responding to that man's gender-stereotyping tripe.

Thu, 2012-10-25 03:44 — ohhblahdah (not verified)

A gender doesn't menstruate. The female SEX does.

Thu, 2012-10-18 11:07 — hairybutchewy (not verified)

PMT should stand for permanent mental trauma. The apt and witty response from Bodyform was just like a woman on the blob and if they had allowed a no holes barred response you would have seen the the full head spining, violent outbursts, and mass chocolate consumption followed but floods of tears.

Wed, 2012-10-17 18:46 — Rik Mayall (not verified)

These are some of the wankiest comments I've ever read

Wed, 2012-10-17 16:26 — Dr. Porksword (not verified)

This is just a rehash of the lighthouse keepers joke.... DOH... what's worse this means I probably have older pants than people reading these comments.....!

Wed, 2012-10-17 16:24 — dotjoiner

That's all very well and good and true to form. I get it all, the little digs and prods and blue water (although raspberry would have been more appropriate). But, please, tell me why she went for a walk. Yes, women do the strangest things for no apparent reason (sorry, wrong word choice, maybe 'purpose' would be better?) Is this the famous 'distraction ploy' where you are set up for the real chop, that you never see coming?

Wed, 2012-10-17 16:11 — Nextinthequeue (not verified)

I'm surprised they didn't respond this Richard's plea 'Dam my penis.' It might well be a long-term solution for all involved.

Wed, 2012-10-17 15:11 — Emma Corven (not verified)

*Hygiene.
Spell check ?

Wed, 2012-10-17 13:40 — alita (not verified)

I thought what he said was funny.

Wed, 2012-10-17 19:09 — AmyinNoCal (not verified)

Agreed, it was pretty funny if snarky. Do young girls dream of parachuting when their magic friend arrives?

Wed, 2012-10-17 13:40 — alita (not verified)

I thought what he said was funny.

Wed, 2012-10-17 12:17 — Living in the shed (not verified)

I have a wife and two teenage daughters. Premenstrual negative mood syndrome exists!!!!

Wed, 2012-10-17 09:02 — Sam Beau Patrick (not verified)

HAHA being a health care professional for women I think everyone here is a winner.

I agree with the FB comments - surely young girls must feel a little bit disillusioned too?!

Oh and if your girlfriends haven't told you yet or if you guys didn't know, giving birth to an object the size of a soccer ball isn't really that romantic (ie we look pretty trashed during the whole thing) and sitting having lattes looking a million dollars after the birth of a new born baby doesn't happen either. Isn't TV about make-believe?

Great response and great comment to receive on face book. Sam

Tue, 2012-10-16 22:11 — Pavlova

The rage hormone in this world is testosterone, not progesterone.

Men are on their period all month long.

Wed, 2012-10-31 03:11 — Willie Johnson jr. (not verified)

Oh dear, why try and suck the fun out of everything? You'll going to be alone for a long, long time.

Wed, 2012-10-31 09:20 — Pavlova

Ah I see, it's fun while men are making generalised, sexist, hormonal statements about women, but not when women make them about men.

Thu, 2012-10-18 11:44 — Peeps (not verified)

Oooh...Women-one, Men-nil. ;-)

The entire thing is funny, three women in our house and it does get rocky!! My partner knows when to buy me chocolate and I love him for it

Tue, 2012-10-16 23:38 — winning (not verified)

False - the leading rage hormone in the world is prepostosterone. Everyone knows that.

Tue, 2012-10-16 21:23 — Atropa (not verified)

hilarious but yeah, probably a marketing ploy.

every woman should just invest in a menstrual cup. im serious people!!

Tue, 2012-10-16 18:39 — James Stanley (not verified)

My bullplop detected is calling this as one whole big PR stunt. Create a fake blog post, spread it around social media then come up with a witty rejoinder... Ta-Dah! Free coverage of your sanitary pants in too-cool-for-school leftwing outlets like The New Statesman.

Tue, 2012-10-16 19:07 — Adi (not verified)

Except it wasn't a 'fake blog post', it was a Facebook comment from a guy called Richard Neill who has been on Facebook since 2009.

That comment subsequently went viral, and the sort of site that likes to report on such things (e.g. Mashable) reported on it.

Bodyform then enlisted the services of Carat to cook up a very swift video response.

Do people really think Bodyform, or any other company, could MAKE a comment go viral and gain 84,000 'likes'? . Obviously, they haven't. They're spinning it into a positive with a very clever video response courtesy of Carat, but you'd have to be delusional to think they somehow manufactured the reaction to the original comment.

Tue, 2012-10-16 17:55 — Thchruan (not verified)

Funny but hmmm "destroyed" - hardly. "Snarky" - surely a bit strong too? He clearly wasn't being serious at all and his comment is pretty funny. This smarts of the big boys/girls at Bodyform being made to look a little dated and getting a young communications agency to make them a viral redressing that. They should count their lucky stars he set the whole thing up so nicely with his on the nose comment. Kudos to them for the clip but doubt it'll affect their brand advertising and hands up if you expected it to go further? I do feel someone still missed the irony of the original comment but then women with PMT often are not the best audience for irony as a friend just commented when I showed her this.

Tue, 2012-10-16 23:48 — Steve_the_cat (not verified)

I don't think Bodyform were being serious either...

And I think their response is funnier than the original facebook post. Perhaps it might even be that their response is ironic too...

Tue, 2012-10-16 18:20 — David Anderton (not verified)

You mad, bro?

Tue, 2012-10-16 16:37 — Paul joseph (not verified)

haha. Brilliant ;)

Tue, 2012-10-16 16:18 — New stateswoman (not verified)

"Taken together, these studies failed to provide clear evidence in support of the existence of a specific premenstrual negative mood syndrome in the general population. This puzzlingly widespread belief needs challenging, as it perpetuates negative concepts linking female reproduction with negative emotionality."

Gender Medicine, Volume 9, Issue 5, October 2012, Pages 361–384

Tue, 2012-10-16 20:52 — Liffey Banks (not verified)

So "premenstrual negative mood syndrome" is just a myth that allows the thoughts or feelings of women to be dismissed easily? or perpetuate a widespread disgust or revulsion toward women and their bodies? Shocking. (Peer-reviewed lit. quote FTW)

Wed, 2012-10-17 12:19 — Living in the shed (not verified)

I have a wife and two teenage daughters. Premenstrual negative mood syndrome exists!!!