History Main / BlueLiquidAbsorbent

* Pampers diapers. During a literal SideBySideDemonstration they poured a puddle on TheLeadingBrand and then moved over to the Pampers while still dripping the liquid so it was just a line of liquid. No wonder the other one was wetter.

* {{Averted}} in a 90's [[https://vimeo.com/72800845 ad for Libra pads.]] The ad involved a murder in a gallery (or somewhere), then when the detectives and curator (who did the murder) arrived at the scene, the curator sees blood (or water) on the floor and uses the pad being advertised to soak it up before the detectives could see it. Needless to say, the ad was quickly pulled.

Humourously, a blue liquid test will nearly always have a small disclaimer on-screen, reminding us that this is a "dramatization". [[ViewersAreMorons Just so the audience didn't think that somebody was actually peeing blue liquid onto the whatever.]]

* {{Averted}} in a 90's ad for Libra pads. The ad involved a murder in a gallery (or somewhere), then when the detectives and curator (who did the murder) arrived at the scene, the curator sees blood (or water) on the floor and uses the pad being advertised to soak it up before the detectives could see it. Needless to say, the ad was quickly pulled.

* {{Averted}} in a (relatively) old ad for a brand of pads. The ad involved a murder in a gallery or somewhere, then when the detectives and curator (who did the murder) arrived at the scene, the curator sees blood on the floor and uses the pad being advertised to soak it up before the detectives could see it. Needless to say, the ad was quickly pulled.

In commercials featuring absorbency tests, the liquid being absorbed will be bright blue. This is a deliberate attempt to avoid unsavory resemblance to any kind of bodily fluids, even though that is generally the product's intended use. Think about it - red/pink/purple, yellow/orange, or brown? Pretty obvious. Green or black would most likely put you in mind of the same kinds of fluids, except with something ''[[BodyHorror gone horribly wrong]]''. Clear [[RuleOfPerception wouldn't show up at all]]. Meanwhile, the only fluid you're going to associate with blue is good old pure, healthy [[WaterIsBlue water]].

Blue liquid was first used in place of the others probably for the simple desire to not {{Squick}} out viewers, especially those who might be eating at the time. This, before the internet age, placed some of these products in the "YesButWhatDoesItDo?" class for viewers under a certain age. Seriously, how does one tell a Poise pad from an Always pad if you don't know the liquid color?

->''People do not wish to see scientific demonstrations of pads absorbing amazing quantities of fluids. People also cannot fathom why this fluid is always blue. As Carla and Bill Chandler put it: "If anyone around here starts secreting anything BLUE, the last thing we're going to worry about is how absorbent their pad is."''
-->-- '''DaveBarry'''

%% The video is private. It seems that, without being able to access it, the caption becomes an orphaned joke.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpypeLL1dAs The ads on TV are really helpful, because they use that blue liquid. And I'm like, "Oh! That's what's supposed to happen."]]]]

** This is partly because even ''advertizing'' menstrual products was banned until the 1980's, and then it was only allowed if any blood shown was not red or a realistic colour.

Blue liquid was first switched out for other liquids probably because of MoralGuardians of Standards and Practices, for the same reason BloodlessCarnage is so common. This, before the internet age, placed some of these products in the "YesButWhatDoesItDo?" class for viewers under a certain age. Seriously, how does one tell a Poise pad from an Always pad if you don't know the liquid color?

* {{AvertedTrope Averted}} in a (relatively) old ad for a brand of pads. The ad involved a murder in a gallery or somewhere, then when the detectives and curator (who did the murder) arrived at the scene, the curator sees blood on the floor and uses the pad being advertised to soak it up before the detectives could see it. Needless to say, the ad was quickly pulled.

In commercials featuring absorbency tests, the liquid being absorbed will be bright blue. This is a deliberate attempt to avoid unsavory resemblance to any kind of bodily fluids, even though that is frequently the product's intended use. Think about it - red/pink/purple, yellow/orange, or brown? Pretty obvious. Green or black would most likely put you in mind of the same kinds of fluids, except with something ''[[BodyHorror gone horribly wrong]]''. Clear [[RuleOfPerception wouldn't show up at all]]. Meanwhile, the only fluid you're going to associate with blue is good old pure, healthy [[WaterIsBlue water]].

In commercials featuring absorbency tests, the liquid being absorbed will be bright blue. This is a deliberate attempt to avoid unsavory resemblance to any kind of bodily fluids, even though that is frequently the product's intended use. Think about it - red/pink/purple, yellow/orange, or brown? Pretty obvious. Green or black would most likely put you in mind of the same kinds of fluids, except with something ''[[BodyHorror gone horribly wrong''. Clear [[RuleOfPerception wouldn't show up at all]]. Meanwhile, the only fluid you're going to associate with blue is good old pure, healthy [[WaterIsBlue water]].

In commercials featuring absorbency tests, the liquid being absorbed will be bright blue. This is a deliberate attempt to avoid unsavory resemblance to any kind of bodily fluids, even though that is frequently the product's intended use.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRf35wCmzWw The ads on TV are really helpful, because they use that blue liquid. And I'm like, "Oh! That's what's supposed to happen."]]]]

** This is partly because even ''advertizing'' menstrual products was banned until the 1980's, and then it was only allowed if any blood shown was not red.

* Pretty much any ad for menstrual products.

-->--DaveBarry

Blue liquid was first switched out for other liquids probably because of MoralGuardians of Standards and Practices, for the same reason BloodlessCarnage is so common. This, before the internet age, placed some of these products in the YesButWhatDoesZetaProxamineDo class for viewers under a certain age. Seriously, how does one tell a Poise pad from an Always pad if you don't know the liquid color?

In commercials featuring absorbency tests, the liquid being absorbed will be bright blue. This is a deliberate attempt to avoid unsavory resemblance to any kind of bodily fluids, even though that is usually the product's intended use.

This was likely first done to get around MoralGuardians, for the same reason BloodlessCarnage is so common.

In commercials featuring absorbency tests, the liquid being absorbed will be bright blue. This is a deliberate attempt to avoid unsavory resemblance to any kind of bodily fluids, even if that is the product's intended use.

* Ads for Colgate Toothpaste used to use the blue liquid to demonstrate how fluoride gets into teeth, comparing it to the blue soaking into a stick of chalk. In a TV production class I once wrote a parody commercial for Colgate Chalk Stain - "For when your chalk needs to be it's bluest" - where they compared it to toothpaste. The teacher of the class didn't get it.
* Pampers diapers. Those pissed me off because during a literal SideBySideDemonstration they poured a puddle on TheLeadingBrand and then moved over to the Pampers while still dripping the liquid so it was just a line of liquid. No wonder the other one was wetter.