On Monday, the hygiene product brand Tampax tweeted a dirty joke that has riled up Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFS), who already went after the tampon company earlier this month after it made an ad deal with a transgender influencer.
The tweet declared, “You’re in their DMs. We’re in them. We are not the same.”
You're in their DMs. We're in them.
We are not the same.— Tampax US (@Tampax) November 21, 2022
After some positive responses, #BoycottTampax began trending on Twitter.
The company was criticized for its past inclusivity of trans people in its ad campaigns, as well as for using the gender-neutral pronouns “their” and “them” in the joke tweet. However, it is unclear if Tampax used those pronouns out of inclusivity or as a plural pronoun to refer to many women.
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After this gem alienating your core customers, one wld have thought you'd change your marketing manager. Apparently not.https://t.co/wvhYdodR58
— Bec de Corbin (@De_Corbin_Bec) November 22, 2022
"Their" instead of "her."
At this point, I blame the Mayans who didn't have the decency to follow through on their promise to wipe us all out back in 2012.https://t.co/nFllRvDcwO
— Amadeus III (@AmadeusXLO) November 22, 2022
After Tampax appointed Dylan Mulvaney as the face of their brand, they do not get the benefit of good faith ever again.https://t.co/naI3eeehFShttps://t.co/HLccbiPsIP
— The Emerald Serpent🐍 (@Izmeina666) November 23, 2022
My first period- 10
My last period- 43
Amount of times I purchased your product, or recommended your product – 0
Rest assured, that will continue to be the case. pic.twitter.com/lc6VSd1oSB— ScarfWearing Crone AHF 🦇🕷🕸🍂🎃🔮💚💜 (@mlindsay122015) November 22, 2022
Have you employed your ambassador, Dylan Mulvaney, to run your social media, too?
Your products are garbage anyway. Ineffective applicators, absorbency levels that are nowhere near what you claim, strings that break. pic.twitter.com/xWiUO49EFI
— Hennie Inglis 🏴 🇳🇱 💚🤍💜 (@HennieInglis) November 22, 2022
Many angry commenters also accused the company of sexualizing minors with the tweet, since girls as young as 11 use tampons, as well as just sexualizing the product altogether.
Others defended the brand, saying people should lighten up and take a joke or else accusing those who are angry of just using the tweet as an excuse to boycott a company that supports trans people.
Earlier this month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) lashed out at “Madison Avenue ad agencies” this weekend after finding out that trans TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney may have gotten an ad deal with Tampax.
“Madison Avenue ad agencies and woke corporations are destroying the concept of womanhood,” Greene wrote. “They need to remember who their customers are. Real biological women.”
“And we refuse to be replaced by men.”
this whole #BoycottTampax thing is just terfs finding some tiny thing to boycott a company that supports trans people. 2 days after a mass shooting of LGBT people loooooool hell is hot for terfs pic.twitter.com/KNPLOqTT7x
— Hot TERF takes (@HotTerfTakes) November 22, 2022
The interesting thing about the #BoycottTampax tag is that it's masked under the guise of misogyny, but when you click on the profiles of people mad, they got a lot of iffy transphobic mess in their tweets. Remember, Tampax supported the trans community and promoted diversity. Hm pic.twitter.com/xzF8gmgTmu
— Ellemnop (@ellevate108) November 22, 2022
Has anyone else noticed that the people screaming #BoycottTampax aren’t really upset about the joke? They’re actually a bunch of transphobic bigots attacking a company that showed support for a group of people they like to be cruel to. To the weak minded, ignorant bullies🖕🏽🖕🏽
— ChicanaVeganⓋ🌱🌻 (@Elepitts1997) November 22, 2022
Shout-out to all the cis conservative men boycotting Tampax. Best of luck to you on this endeavor. #BoycottTampax
— [email protected] (@cmclymer) November 22, 2022
Some also pointed out that the transphobic backlash has come only two days after a shooter killed five people at a Colorado LGBTQ bar. Democrats have blamed right-wing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric for inciting this kind of horrific violence.
So much #TransHate in the #BoycottTampax trend.
And only two days after an horrific hate crime against the LGBTQ community.
You all should be ashamed of your denial of human rights to individuals, many of them very young, trying to live safe lives 💙🏳️⚧️
— Alexander Stuart🐀 (@AlexChowStuart) November 22, 2022
