When it comes to women’s health, certain occurrences are still stigmatized, go unspoken and are hardly studied. Periods, birth control, pregnancy, menopause and other issues are often treated as women’s issues for women to figure out. However, women can’t figure out what they don’t know in the first place.

That’s why a new campaign from feminine care brand Libresse—known as Bodyform in the U.K.—brings to the surface the emotions—confusion, shame, frustration, pain—experienced by girls and women who are often in the dark about their own bodies. 

“Never Just a Period,” created by AMV BBDO, highlights the dissonance between what women are taught to expect and the reality of their menstrual experiences, showing the unsettling and absurd experience of having so little knowledge about their bodies.

A two-minute film directed by Netflix hit show “Eric” director Lucy Forbes through Smuggler, uses comedy and hyperbolic mixed-media to poke fun at the strange experience of inhabiting a body without proper knowledge of it. Scored by an all-female Greek chorus-inspired orchestra, the film humorously explores experiences such as first periods, surprising discharge smells, learning to put on a tampon and pain being dismissed by doctors. 

In each instance, the women are notably alone, left to figure out for themselves what is happening. 

The film also juxtaposes Victorian paintings of women with modern-day girls and women to show how, for centuries, women have faced educational gaps about their bodies. 

The campaign aims to show the absurdity of how a lack of open conversation often leads to women and girls to have scary, isolating and even ridiculous thoughts about what might be happening to their bodies—all of which could be avoided with education, said Lauren Peters, art director at AMV BBDO.

“There is a huge gap between what we’re talking about and what we actually experience, and as a result, you can go through life feeling perpetually confused and afraid and ashamed unnecessarily just because you have not been given adequate information,” she told Ad Age.

“It’s been like 300,000 years of human existence, but girls still have no idea what’s going on,” added Augustine Cerf, creative at AMV BBDO.

Throughout the film, children are strategically used as a device for illustrating how early education can prevent uncertainty and stigmatization. One scene towards the end of the film shows a young girl demonstrating to a group of peers (including boys) how periods work.

“If our children are properly educated and feel open to discuss, not only with their female friends but also their male friends, then hopefully that will bring change, because ultimately, it’s really about education and being able to feel free and confident to talk about all these things that we’ve all brushed under the carpet for so many years,” said Forbes. 

The campaign came from the insight that when it comes to feminine care, many women wish they knew more about their bodies to avoid negative feelings or shame, said Margaux Revol, strategy partner at AMV BBDO.

According to a recent study by Bodyform, more than half (59%) of those who menstruate wish they’d been taught more about their periods and intimate health. Only one in five of those who menstruate felt “calm and ready” to start their first period; two in five (42%) feel the knowledge of their cycle has “lots of gaps”; 90% know little to nothing about perimenopause; and only two in five have felt comfortable enough to talk to their healthcare professional about their menstrual health.   
 
To make its argument, the campaign film closes with a pointed, powerful question: “What do you wish you knew?”—which admittedly sparked my own reflection. 

But in asking other women, including the ones who worked on this campaign, what they wish they knew, these were the responses: 

• Periods are not supposed to be painful, and if they are, it could be a sign of some deeper issue such as fibroids or endometriosis.
• Women can still bleed after a C-section birth—a lot. It’s also possible to get your menstrual cycle very quickly after birth. 
• Getting implanted birth control, such as an IUD, can be extremely painful. 
• A first period can start as early as 8 years old, and it may not be bright red. It can also be brown.

The campaign will roll out across digital, social platforms and TV. In total, over 100 unique assets have been crafted. The campaign follows previously celebrated Bodyform films, including “Womb Stories,” “Blood Normal” and “Viva La Vulva.”

More Creativity coverage from Ad Age:

• See this week’s top 5 campaigns.
• Nike’s Olympics campaign explores the winner’s mindset.
• Channel 4 made a hard-hitting Paris 2024 Paralympics ad.
• 15 hidden gems among the Cannes Lions winners.
• Meet the interns who won gold in Cannes for a poop joke.
• Nick Cohen looks back at Mads Dogs & Englishmen.

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