"Periods are normal, showing them should be too"

By Jessica Tennant

25 Feb 2019

For years, marketers have used a blue liquid to demonstrate their products, but Libresse replaces it with a more fitting red, demonstrating that periods are normal.

The short film features a guy buying pads, a woman asking for a pad across the dinner table and school children passing a pad across the classroom.

Libresse brand manager Mpho Nojiwa says for years women have been subjected to the discomfort of openly addressing menstruation conversations and testosterone-fueled stereotypical ideas that men don't buy sanitary products. #BloodNormal aims to debunk myths and educate society about normalising periods by confronting these sort of gender-biased stereotypes…

Why do you think talking about periods is still taboo?

We have been socially conditioned to believe that periods are a girl’s secret and that no one else should know about it. Parents are not having open conversations with their children and there are so many myths around menstruation that perpetuate stigma and exclusion.

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Why do you think it’s about time to stop beating around the bush?

Periods are still shrouded in shame, largely invisible in culture, making them seem everything but normal, and this absence causes a toxic shame that is damaging to women and girls, like this stat from a global survey we conducted:

56% of girls would rather be bullied at school than talk to their parents about periods

We need to change the narrative and create a new normal.

We hope a positive depiction of periods and everything related to menstruation will start breaking down walls to make way for real conversations. The more we see and talk, the less the cringe factor will be. In time, we believe it will be viewed as normal as breathing.

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How do you plan to achieve this through the campaign?

Although a multi-media campaign, why focus on the short-film format?
This is the best way to depict what millions of women go through each day and to see it for what it is. The blood, the period pain, the passing of pads from one woman to another; we believe this will resonate with our audiences.

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The campaign hits the local market at the same time as trending news that a new set of ‘period emojis’ depicting a red droplet of blood, ovaries, a pad, etc. will be introduced in the next emoji collection for phones in March. How is the conversation around menstruation shifting globally?
This is a testament that this conversation has started to shift in private spaces and that brands like Libresse have recognised the need. Women are becoming more comfortable to admit that they are on their period and I think it’s about time mainstream media followed sute in order to amplify and drive this shift.

New emoji coming soon is a symbol for menstruation and aims to help girls talk about periods and end the stigma surrounding them: https://t.co/zgD1oWyo5P

— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 12, 2019