Whoopi cushion: Goldberg maintains her Poise. Will you?

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the face of incontinence, Whoopi Goldberg. Yes, the comedian and The View co-host is helping to get discussion - pardon the pun - flowing about light bladder leakage. More accurately, she's helping Kimberly-Clark market its line of Poise panty pads.

Goldberg is going to be featured in a series of conventional ads and online webisodes that will highlight the bladder control problems of historical/mythical figures like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc and Eve. The goal is twofold: to reach out to young women and to let people know that not all products are created equally when you lay it on the line, or liner.

I'm all for raising awareness, particularly in the younger demo, that one in three women have this problem. But what nags at me is how it was decided that Whoopi is the right spokesmodel to engage young women in this discussion. Aren't they likely to see her as a mother, or grandmotherly, figure, thus defeating the purpose of the campaign? Wouldn't a contemporary like, I don't know, Rihanna or Kate Hudson have more cachet?

Also, why would women today care how Joan of Arc or Cleopatra dealt with weak bladders, even if handled comically? I would have thought something more contemporary would have been the way to go. But what do I know? I'm not the target audience.

Still, I'd love to see the stats after this campaign has played out for a year, just to know if the young ladies take their cues from Whoopi, and to prove me wrong. And forgive me this but I can't help wondering: is there any chance these Poise webisodes will leak online before their intended release date?