Blue Liquid Absorbent: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''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."''|'''[[Dave Barry]]'''}}

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 ''[[Body Horror|gone horribly wrong]]''. Clear [[Rule of Perception|wouldn't show up at all]]. Meanwhile, the only fluid you're going to associate with blue is good old pure, healthy [[Water Is Blue|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 "[[Yes but What Does It Do]]?" 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?

 

See also [[Water Is Blue]].

* 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.

* Even true, often, for things like Bounty paper towels. (Though more recently they use water or juice for a realism effect).

* Averted in a new pad brand here in Brazil. But it didn't change that much, they use a green liquid.

[[Category:Blue Tropes]]

[[Category:Blue Liquid Absorbent]]