Did Amy Schumer Cause a Heavy Flow of Tampax Sales?
Let's follow this string and see where it leads
If you’ve been forced to freebleed more than usual, it’s Amy Schumer’s fault. At least that is what the corporate fat cats at Tampax would like you to believe. In a Time article about tampon shortages, Procter & Gamble spokesperson Cheri McMaster claimed that “retail sales growth exploded” following a 2020 ad campaign featuring the Trainwreck star. Let’s watch one.
Are you suddenly overcome by a crushing need to go out and buy Tampax? I’ll admit that I was not, but I did think it was funny when she took a bite out of the donut. P&G claims that other people were more swayed than I, and that demand for tamps has been up 7.7 percent in the last two years.
In fact, according to P&G, the Tampax factory in Auburn, Maine has been running “24/7” to meet the demand. With that in mind, here is a short play:
Ma: Honey, why are you home so late?
Pa: Well, darlin’, I had to pull another double at the tampon factory. Ladies have been bleeding extra hard since that blonde woman got on TV and pretended she didn’t know how to use a tampon.
Ma: So that’s why I haven’t been able to find any Tampax Pearl Super Plus at the store.
Pa: Funny you mention that…
Pa pulls a box of Tampax Pearl Super Plus out of his lunch pail.
Pa: Perks of the job.
Time writer Alana Semuels smartly notes that it seems rather unlikely that a few ads starring Schumer could cause a run on an entire brand of tampons. Instead, the lack of tampons on shelves is probably due to both pandemic hoarding and P&G finding it difficult to source the raw materials needed to make them.
So no, Amy Schumer’s salesmanship did not cause a heavy flow of Tampax sales. But good on them for trying to use the ol’ “we actually did too good of a job” excuse. I might have believed it if it were, say, Jennifer Aniston. That woman can sell anything.
