If You're Not Having Sex While Reading This, Bayer Wants to Know Why
Bayer (BAYRY) is concerned that women who have heavy periods aren't getting enough sex, so the company has created an unbranded website to encourage women to go see their doctors if this is the case. By amazing coincidence, Bayer markets Qlaira, a newly launched contraceptive pill in Europe that both prevents pregnancy and controls heavy bleeding.
Bayer has spent years battling the issues that prevent women from having sex. The company has historically been dependent on its birth control franchise, so lack of women having sex directly threatens its business model. The company churns out variations on birth control pills with extra non-sex benefits to attract whatever tiny percentage of women remain who are not having sex because they're not getting enough folic acid or because they have acne.
The latest Bayer site, "In Tune With You," segues awkwardly between touchy-feely women's mag pablum and an insistence that no matter what is wrong, you probably ought to see your doctor and ask about contraception. Especially if you're not having sex:
Heavy Menstrual Bleeding (HMB) can make your periods -â€" and your life -â€" a misery. You can feel drained and tired. You're likely to feel anxious about embarrassing leaks and the possibility of your clothes becoming stained. And you may well find that your sex life suffers too. Sadly, the majority of women with HMB simply suffer in silence.
If this is you, please think again. There IS help available if you have heavy menstrual bleeding. So do go and see your GP and discuss what could be done.There's a quiz to find out whether you're a morning person or a nighttime person, titled "Are you a Lark or an Owl?" I discovered I'm an owl; the answer was delivered on a page that offered a link to another site about contraception, also owned by Bayer.
Bayer's PR effort around Qlaira has led to some odd results. One web site produced an advertorial that suggested women with heavy periods should have sex in the shower to avoid the mess.
Previously, Bayer's sex surveys have tackled the average age at which Israeli women lose their virginity and whether Asian youths feel comfortable talking about sex, as well as identifying the percentage of British women who will have sex on a first date (11 percent).
So if you're not having sex right now, keep it to yourself. If Bayer finds out, it'll want an explanation.
Related:
- FDA Issues Blood-Clot Warning for Bayer Birth Control Pills-- and Bayer Cheers
- Bayer Loses Attempt to Silence Critics of Birth Control Pill Yaz
- Money Talks: Ob/Gyn Society Let Bayer Write Its Birth Control Guidelines
- Bayer's Sexy Surveys Reveal Sex Lives of People Having Sex