You’ll soon be feeling yourself again

Kleenex for Men. What’s the first use for the tissues that you think of? Well shame on you. No doubt there’s some Freudian explanation for your answer. But, faced with a delicate decision over the approach its marketing should take, Kleenex for Men has decided that men’s most common use for tissues is to dry their tears.

The tissue brand’s relaunch advertising is focusing on a man crying at the birth of his child. Because, obviously, he’s the one who’s really suffered during that particular trauma. Come to think of it, he’ll probably need quite a few more tissues over the next few months, until his wife recovers, so the Diary will forgive him.

The Diary can’t help but admire Kleenex for Men’s noble refusal to accept the real way its product is used though, and it would be nice to see a similar response from other brands that are awkward to advertise. So come on Durex – what’s wrong with pretending the product is designed for students to make water-bombs?

Kleenex for Men is also sponsoring the 100 Greatest “Tearjerkers” on Channel 4. Apparently, Basic Instinct is the early favourite to take the title, followed by Willie’s Wonka in my Chocolate Factory and Chitty Chitty Gang Bang.