The Taboo Word That Broke Through Ad Breaks

Claim A says Courteney Cox said "period" in a 1985 Tampax ad. Claim B says Jennifer Aniston said "period" in a 1985 Tampax ad. Claim A is true, and Claim B is completely made up.

Before 1985, TV ads for menstrual products tiptoed around the subject. Commercials leaned on vague phrases like "that time of the month" or "feminine protection," and the real word stayed off the air.

Then came a Tampax spot with a line that sounds tame today: "Feeling cleaner is more comfortable. It can actually change the way you feel about your period." The woman delivering it was a young Courteney Cox, years before she became Monica on Friends.

That made her the first person to say "period" in a US television commercial. The ad is remembered as a quiet breakthrough for a word that advertisers had avoided.

Cox has said she had little money at the time and the job helped her afford food. She even got fan mail for it. Decades later, in 2022, she posted a parody of the ad about menopause, complete with a leotard and leg warmers.

As for Claim B, Jennifer Aniston was not the woman in that ad. Courteney Cox was the one who spoke the line.

Think you'd have guessed right? Share this with a friend and see if they can spot the real one.