Kotex

Kotex (/ˈkoʊtɛks/) is an American brand of menstrual hygiene products, which includes the Kotex maxi, thin and ultra-thin pads, the Security tampons, and the Lightdays pantiliners. Most recently, the company has added U by Kotex to its menstrual hygiene product line.^[1] Kotex is owned and managed by Kimberly-Clark, a consumer products corporation active in more than 80 countries.

Kotex

A Kotex "Deo" pad
Product type	Menstrual hygiene products
Owner	Kimberly-Clark
Country	United States
Introduced	1920
Website	Kotex corporate website

A Kotex newspaper advertisement from 1920

Kotex ad, painted by Coby Whitmore (1950)

History

The modern, commercial, disposable pads started in the late nineteenth century with the Hartmann [de] company in Germany, and Johnson & Johnson in the United States.^[2] In the UK, the Birmingham firm of Southall Brothers & Barclay was advertising "sanitary towels" in The Family Doctor and Home Medical Adviser in the early 1890s.^[3]

In the United States, Kotex was launched in 1920 by Kimberly-Clark to make use of leftover cellucotton (wood pulp fiber) from World War One bandages.^[4][5] An employee noted that the pads had a "cotton-like texture" which was abbreviated to "cot-tex" and then made the product name with alternate spelling.^[6]

In the 1920s, Kimberly-Clark placed advertisements in the women's magazines Good Housekeeping and Ladies' Home Journal.^[7] Although some readers were offended by the ads, the product's success led to more advertisements. Kimberly-Clark also promoted Kotex in Good Housekeeping by using intimate advice columnist Mary Pauline Callender.^[8]

Originally sold in a hospital blue box at 12 for 60 cents, Victorian sexual prudishness caused slow acceptance until Montgomery Ward began advertising them in its 1926 catalog, reaching $11 million sales in 1927 in 57 countries.^[9] It became one of the first self-service items in American retailing history after it was strategically placed on countertops with a special payment box so that the woman didn't have to ask a clerk for it and touch hands. Tampax appeared in 1936. Belts were needed until the 1970 introduction of Stayfree by Personal Products Co. and New Freedom Pads by Kimberly-Clark.

New Freedom is a former brand in the Kotex family. New Freedom was one of the first beltless pads manufactured in the early 1970s.

Product line

In August 2009, Kotex launched a premium sub-brand called Kotex Luxe in Singapore. It launched U by Kotex Tween, products aimed at girls aged 8–12 in the US in 2011.^[10]

Recalls and defects

In September 2012, Kimberly-Clark issued a warning regarding a shipment of rejected Kotex tampons stolen and sold to the public. The company said the defective products posed only a minor health risk to consumers.^[11]

In December 2018, Kimberly-Clark issued a recall of U by Kotex Sleek tampons due to findings that the product would sometimes break apart during removal, leaving behind fragments in the body that could require medical attention for removal.^[12]

Notes

1. Newman, Andrew Adam (16 March 2010). "Rebellion Against the Usually Evasive Menstrual Care Ad". The New York Times. p. B3. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
2. "Pads [Directory]". Museum of Menstruation. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
3. "Southall's towels". Museum of Menstruation & Women's Health. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
4. www.mum.org
5. www.mum.org
6. Eschner, Kat (2017-08-11). "The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
7. Cross, Mary (2002). A Century of American Icons: 100 Products and Slogans from the 20th-Century Consumer Culture. Greenwood Press. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0313314810. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
8. "Photo of Mary Pauline Callender". Museum of Menstruation. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
9. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2252/who-invented-tampons
10. Newman, Andrew Adam (14 April 2011). "A Younger Group for Feminine Products". The New York Times. p. B3. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
11. "Kimberly-Clark issues warning about stolen tampons". USA Today. Associated Press. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
12. "Kimberly-Clark issues recall after reports of tampons causing users to seek medical attention". Fox 8 Cleveland. December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.

References

• Marchand, Roland (1985). Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920–1940. Berkeley, Cal.: University of California Press. pp. 20–23 et al. ISBN 9780520052536. OCLC 11574067.

Further reading

• Guadagnolo, D. (2020). "“The Miracle of You”: Women's Sex Education and the Marketing of Kotex." Modern American History
• "The Accidental History of Kleenex & Kotex". Alan's Mysterious World. September 30, 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
• Mikkelson, Barbara (May 19, 2011). "Padded Account". Snopes.com. Retrieved 17 June 2015. On the origin of Kotex sanitary napkins. Cites:
  • Gershman, Michael (1990). Getting It Right the Second Time: How American Ingenuity Transformed Forty-Nine Marketing Failures into Some of Our Most Successful Products. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. pp. 31–37. ISBN 9780201550825. OCLC 21407250.
• Henrich, Thomas; Batchelor, Bob (2004). Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies. Ohio State University Press. ISBN 0814209769.

External links

• Kimberly-Clark corporate website
• Girlspace: Kotex website for teen girls^{[dead link‍]}
• U by Kotex USA
• U by Kotex English-Canada
• U by Kotex French-Canada

• Kotex Singapore
• Kotex in Russia