♪ (ragtime music) ♪
(girl) First, Jenny got it.
Then stupid Vicky got it.
And I tried everything to get my period.
(sympathetically) Oh! Why?
(girl) So I faked it.
- (cracking up) - (girl) Yeah, I got it.
- It's so red. - You've gotta be kidding me!
(cackling)
(mom) Hey, Katie? What's this?
(Katie) What do you think it is?
I'm on my lady's days.
(mom) What do I think it is?
Rubylicious nail polish.
That's correct, ma.
(mom) We're throwing you a First Moon Party.
(laughing) Oh god!
A First Moon Party?!
(mom) Oh, it's one thing to lie to me, but to take that tone?
- It's on. - Go mom!
(mom) Hi, do you make vagina cakes?
- (cracking up) - (mom) Hello?
(mom) Grandpa! Nice to see you.
(grandpa) Sweetheart, you're so grown up!
"You're so grown up!" You're bleeding.
Oh, god. How embarrassing!
(man) There she is. Hey, I got you a super pack.
Coffee?
(Katie) These are coffee filters.
This hits too close to home.
(man) These kids... (laughing)
(Katie) I just didn't expect my mom to be such a freak!
(mom) Pin the pad on the period!
"Pin the pad on the period?!" (cackling)
(Katie) Seriously?!
(mom) Do you know how hard it is to find a uterus piñata?
Oh god!
(cracking up)
(Katie) I used to like marshmallows.
Who does this?!
(laughing)
(Katie) And when things couldn't get worse...
Yes, it could. There, it just got worse.
(Katie) My dad showed up.
(mortified shriek)
(cackling)
(mom) What're you doing? You're missing the vagician.
(Katie) You need to stop this.
(mom) What're you talking about?
This party is a hit.
Your grandpa is bobbing for ovaries like a champ!
Bobbing for what?
(Katie) I faked it!
(mom chuckles deviously)
Well, maybe you should open this first.
(Katie) Period Starter Kit?
Aren't you going to ground me for lying?
(mom) Why do you think I threw you the First Moon Party?
Periods don't have glitter on them.
Oh, that's wild.
"Helloflo, the gift before the gift?"
(in video) Sometimes you just gotta wait.
(laughing)
Aww, I wish I could've had something like that
when I was that age.
Nobody even talked about it.
I thought I was dying.
Well... what questions could you ask me now?
(movie reel clicks)
(Finebros) So what was that?
They were, to me, it was like a comedy
about being on the rag, right?
Girls at the moment of truth.
This company called Helloflo selling
all the various accoutrements to a young tweener's
first menstrual cycle.
They were commercials for getting the pack
so you had knowledge and power for getting your period.
I have really never heard of a girl celebrating a period.
I'm glad it doesn't happen to guys.
(cracking up)
(Finebros) What did you think of that commercial?
I thought it was fun. It was cute.
I don't see any harm in it.
I kinda liked the fact that it was so open.
If you're a guy, it's really funny.
(laughing) I don't know about the girls.
They're absolutely perfect!
1,000% home run.
Hopefully, help little girls realize what's coming.
Just wonderful.
(Finebros) Do you feel it's okay or not okay
to make commercials for periods like this?
I don't see why not.
If you're on the rag, you're on the rag, right?
Heavens yes, we're not in the dark ages.
It should be talked about 'cause it wasn't in my day
and I was just petrified when I got my first period.
Are you kidding? I think it's great.
Let me tell you how many times I got stuck discussing this--
as a middle school teacher, holy patoley,
parents were not discussing it with their children.
(Finebros) Are you comfortable discussing periods?
Of course.
Yes, period.
It doesn't bother me at all.
I got three daughters.
At my age? Yeah.
'Cause I don't have 'em anymore.
(cheeky laugh)
No, and I had a girl
and I was really hoping, you know, mom and my daughter
would work that one out.
(laughing)
(Finebros) Well, get ready, Rock,
'cause we're gonna talk all about periods right now.
Ooh, hot dog!
(Finebros) How were periods discussed back when you were younger?
They didn't. They would whisper.
I wasn't taught about it.
I wasn't taught about it at all.
I had five brothers, guys.
You know, we didn't know what girls were.
Everything was very hush-hush.
Even in school, when they talked about it,
they put everything in a brown paper bag
and then you ran like hell out of the classroom
and then the boys would chase you
to see what's in the brown paper bag.
Well, in the fifth grade, girls saw a Disney movie
and it was very well done.
And then you went home and hopefully mom
talked to you a little bit more.
(Finebros) Did you feel you were prepared?
(scoffs) No.
No.
No, 'cause it wasn't something that you discussed.
I think I remember calling my mom
and saying, "It's happening."
And she goes, "(gasps) You're a woman now."
And that was the entire discussion.
What the hell does that mean?
It was fine for me.
I went home from school and said, "I got it, mom!"
(as mom) "Oh, well come here. Let's take care of it."
Oh, gosh, this is gonna go on the Internet.
(Finebros) Commercials to this day on television
always show things like blue liquid.
They never actually show blood when discussing this,
- even to this day. - I know.
It's like it's okay to watch a movie with gore and blood and vampires,
but don't show it in those commercials.
Like, blue is such a common color.
Maybe because most of it is controlled by men
and they're like, "Eww, I'm not doing stuff about that. Ew!"
That's funny.
I hadn't really thought about that.
With the guys, they're always talking about erectile dysfunction.
They don't mention penis a lot though, do they?
Nope, nope.
Body parts, I guess the two body parts that everybody knows about,
they really don't talk about 'em on TV openly.
(Finebros) So back to the video, it has well over 25 million views.
Wow.
(Finebros) Why do you think it's gone so viral?
Well, they've never seen it before. It was well produced.
It had humor.
It's unique. It was a first of a kind.
It's funny.
Some kid tells their mother about this
and the mother goes, "(gasps) Oh my god!
What a great way to initiate a conversation with my daughter on this."
It shows just how incredible the social media is
and how incredibly powerful it is.
(Finebros) So these were made by a very small business
and instead of figuring out how to get a commercial
on television, they put this out online and got millions of views.
What do you think about the idea that companies can bypass
television to advertise their products now?
I think it's great.
Why-- you know, television is kinda getting to be
a little bit of a dinosaur, isn't it?
It's just where the world is.
Television has fallen off the grid.
The power of the Internet, the power of YouTube.
I'm beginning to feel that it hasn't even hit 25%
of what it's going to be.
- (clang) - (Finebros) Truth!
(Finebros) So finally, if you were a young girl that needed this,
or you had a daughter or a granddaughter around this age,
would you look into this company?
I'll stick to the store.
No, I wouldn't bother.
It's just silly.
You mean having them mail her a package?
"Hi, granddaughter.
Here's a gift from grandma!"
If I had a young girl that age, I'd show her this.
Oh, absolutely. I think it's a wonderful idea.
For a young 12-year-old having this little private package
coming every month is very simple.
I definitely would look into this.
In fact, if I had someone ask me about I'd say,
"Here, here, let's watch this.
Let's watch this together."
Thanks for watching this episode of Elders React.
Tomorrow, bonus footage will be coming out
on the React channel, so make sure you check it out.
Goodbye once again.
I can't tell you what a wonderful, wonderful pleasure
it is to be with you.
♪ (ragtime music) ♪