From Bullets to Blood: A Case Study

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From Bullets to Blood A Case Study

• Military Technology and its impact on Civilian
  Life

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Pre World War I What did women use for sanitary
products?
Sea Sponge
knit pad
newspaper
Birdseye cloth
rags
wool
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The Before

• Prior to the First World War, there were few
  commercially made feminine hygiene products,
  certainly not disposable
• Women made their own sanitary napkins out of
  materials available to them at home
• Few domestic or medical manuals had information
  about the best materials or designs for sanitary
  napkins
• Knowledge of materials and folding designs was an
  oral culture, passed from older females to
  younger females in the family

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The Turning Point

• World War I 1914-1918
• Was supposed to be over by Christmas
• Advances in military weapons, particularly the
  machine gun, caused casualties on a scale
  previously unknown
• Bandages were made from 100 cottonexpensive to
  make and couldnt keep up with demand

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Kimberly-Clark

• Paper mill company started in 1872 in Wisconsin
• Developed a more absorbent substitute for cotton,
  called Cellucotton, from wood pulp
• Made bandages cheap enough to throw away

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Crafty Nurses !

• American nurses in France begin to use the
  cellucotton bandages as disposable sanitary
  napkins

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The AfterCellucotton Products Company

• Subsidiary set up by Kimberly-Clark for the
  manufacturing of Kotex (from Kotten-like
  texture) because they didnt want to ruin (the
  companys) good reputation by bringing
  menstruation to a public forum

1920
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I dont get it

• K-C had trouble selling product
• Couldnt get magazines to take their advertising
• Women were reluctant to buy product because it
  meant asking a (most likely male) clerk for a box
  even though K-C invented the word Kotex so women
  would not have to say sanitary napkin

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Your Assignment

• Pick a partner you can work with
• Come up with a print advertisement and marketing
  strategy for Kotex
• Assignment is due (insert date here)
• Will be presented to class