Tampax, stick to making tampons – and stop being creepy | Arwa Mahdawi

Why do big brands think they have to be edgy? And yes, I am also talking about you Balenciaga

You know what I would like a major manufacturer of tampons to do? Make tampons. You know what I wouldn't like them to do? Make creepy sex jokes on Twitter. This is a not-so-subtle reference to Tampax, which caused large swathes of the internet to see red after an off-colour tweet last week. You're in their DMs," Tampax tweeted. We're in them. We are not the same."

I spend a good 60% of my waking hours on Twitter. Maybe you don't. If we are not the same then you might have no idea what on earth Tampax was on about. (Good for you!) Essentially, its joke was a mashup of two popular memes. The plain English translation reads: You're flirting with them via direct message, I'm in their vagina. Ha ha, I'm better than you."

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist