Pulsating music punctuates these long vigils spent wandering, violently throwing sheets off sweaty bodies, rolling around, staring at nothing, waiting for it to end. Blood detaches from the uterus, creature-like, flowing through the body in surreal animation. An infrared effect expresses the sensation better than words: It isn’t just the physical blood constantly dripping from between our legs, as if squeezed from a sieve inside us; it’s the sweat, the frustration and heat seeping from our pores, soaking everything that makes contact with our flesh.

“I just feel like half of my blood is just leaking out of me,” a voice says.

Libresse conducted a survey over 11 markets and gathered responses from 10,000 women+ (I’d never heard that term before, but it feels handy, barring future issues with it that may arise). It found that 62 percent sleep worse on their periods; 33 percent struggle with sleep because of anxiety about leaking and staining their belongings; 62 percent don’t want to sleep in other homes or go on holiday during this time; and nearly 20 percent would rather miss a date than risk a stain.

There’s a lot here around shame and stigma. Part of the reason stains are so stressful, and demand addressing fast, is because blood is so hard to get out of material. Having somebody new, even a friend, sleep over becomes a kind of test: If they see even a telltale ring somewhere on a sheet, what will they think? You don’t want to seem dirty, careless or gross.

But Libresse has gotten good at identifying the difference between the physical effects of menstruation and the social ones that make them even worse, so ingrained are they in our minds. “Periodsomnia” is as much a way of breaking these stigmas as it is a promotion for the new Goodnight Towels with MaxCour-V adaptive technology.

(Personally, I use a combination of a menstrual cup and period underwear for the biggest-bleed nights. You just never feel safe enough.)

“For years, society, brands and advertising have presented images of peaceful, restorative sleep, even for those who are menstruating,” says Tanja Grubner, femcare global marketing and communications director at Essity, which owns Bodyform. “The reality shown through #Periodsomnia is that it can be more chaotic for some women+ … By revealing these universal truths, we tackle the invisibility around the realities of nights spent menstruating to reassure women+ that what they go through is completely normal and that they’re not alone in their experiences.”

In 2018, the brand kicked off its mission in breaking down period stigma with “Blood Normal,” which finally broke that long, irritating advertising convention of depicting blood as a transparent blue fluid. Shortly after that, sister brand Libresse released “Viva La Vulva,” a deliciously catchy piece of work that, at Cannes Lions that year, was hands-down the top spot for every menstruating person we interviewed.

In 2019, Bodyform put vulvas all over bathroom stalls in London. “Womb Stories” launched in 2020, revealing what it’s actually like to have a womb; “Pain Stories” followed.

These campaigns tend to find the right note without bearing down too much on suffering or sorrow, which would make them feel treacly and disingenuous. They alternate between celebratory, playful and commiserating. When I watched “Periodsomnia,” I flashed back to my last vigil on the couch, rubbing my belly and staring at the ceiling, wondering if relief would really come the next day. When sleep finally arrives, you jerk awake a few hours later, sensing, already, that your cup or whatever you’re using is about to overflow, interrupting any last shot you have at rest.

Ah, and the farting. The farting is such a relief. That’s when I know, anyway, that relief is coming.

#Periodsomnia is the campaign hashtag, and like all hashtags, it’s intended as a kind of offering: If you need a community for this, now there’s a word for talking about it online, and maybe people can find one another. 

“Through the campaign, we aim to raise awareness of these underrepresented issues that affect millions of women+ around the world and highlight that there’s no need … to feel ashamed or embarrassed by them,” adds Luciana De Azevedo Lara, femcare communications manager at Essity. “And while we can’t solve all of the experiences that women+ go through, our products are designed to help them feel more protected and comfortable so they can sleep better throughout the night. After all, periods never sleep, but why shouldn’t we?”

That last line echoes the words with which “Periodsomnia” closes: Periods never sleep, but why shouldn’t we? I’m not personally convinced a better pad will resolve every issue that gets between us and sleep on these monthly rendezvous with our rivers of blood. But as it is, it’s already pretty nice to be seen, and at scale.

“Periodsomnia” was directed by Kim Gehrig and features the track “Deep Inside” by Hardrive. Gehrig was also the director of “Viva La Vulva.”

“As a teenager I would be awake for endless hours on nights that I had my period,” Gehrig says. “I would ask my mother to go to the late-night pharmacy at 3 a.m. to get me painkillers. Even though they were a little helpful, those nights were always uncomfortable, lonely and truly exhausting. Yet, in the morning I was expected to go to school and perform like any other day. When I started this project with Libresse, it struck me that I have never discussed these nights with anyone, ever. What is it like to have your period at night? I can only assume that others probably have not either. I am hoping this film is the beginning of a conversation and understanding of what one experiences at night, every month, when they menstruate. And how truly incredible it is that we then take on the next day just like any other.”

CREDITS

Client: Essity
Brand: Libresse / Bodyform / Saba
Campaign Title: #Periodsomnia
Client name: Tanja Grubner, Global Marketing & Communications Director, Femcare
Client name: Luciana De Azevedo Lara, FemCare Communications Manager
Agency: AMV BBDO
CCO / CD: Nadja Lossgott and Nicholas Hulley
Copywriter & Art Director: Anzhela Hayrabedyan and Luca Grosso
Designer: Simon Dilks and Max Henderson
Agency Planner: Suzanne Barker, Margaux Revol and Bea Farmelo
Agency Account Team: Sarah Hore-Lacy, Helen Limbrey and Katie Gorrod
Agency Project Management: Daniela Loccisano
Agency TV Producer: Edwina Dennison
Production Company: Somesuch
Director: Kim Gehrig
Production Co. Producer: Lee Groombridge
Production Co. Exec Producer: Chris Watling and Seth Wilson
DOP: Chayse Irvin
Casting: Leanne Flinn
Production Design: Marie Lanna
Costume Designer: Hannah Edwards
Editing Co: Trim Editing
Editor: Thomas Grove Carter
Edit Assistant: Jacques Simon
Edit Producer: Noreen Khan
Post-production Company: Time Based Arts
VFX Supervisors: Stephen Grasso and Mike Battcock
Creative Director: Mike Skrgatic
Colourist: Simone Grattarola
2D team: Bernardo Varela, Matt Shires, Sarah Breakwell, Will Robinson, Jamie Crofts, Ria Shroff, Grant White, Ralph Briscoe, Eleonora Laddago, Viola Bascombe
3D team: Ihor Obukhovskyi, Guillaume Heussler, Federico Vanone, Teodora Retegan, Chris Wood, Walter How, Tim Phillips, Nick Smalley
Post Producer: Sian Jenkins
Sound Studio: 750mph
Sound Engineer: Sam Ashwell, Giselle Hall
Audio Producer: Olivia Ray
Music: Soundtree Music
Music Supervisor: Peter Raeburn
Additional Music Production: Peter Raeburn and Luke Fabia
Soundtree MD: Jay James
Additional Vocals: Megan Wyler, Vula Malinga, Victoria Beaumont
Social Edits: Maia Lloyd
Business Affairs: Michelle Holmes
PR Agency: Ketchum
Media Agency: Zenith

You know what sucks? Menstrual pain. You know what’s worse? Endometriosis, an often incredibly painful uterine disorder that takes an average of seven and a half years to diagnose. Some 40 percent of people with endometriosis have given up or lost a job because of it; that’s how bad it can feel. 

So why does it take so long to discover? Because young menstruators are educated to accept even unusually, debilitatingly intense uterine pain as a matter of course.

Bodyform/Libresse is taking a shot at changing that. Its latest work, “Pain Stories” by AMV BBDO, is an Instagram-based project designed to educate people about the nuances of menstrual and ovarian pain—hopefully providing the tools needed to gauge whether one’s menstrual discomfort is normal, or symptomatic of something else.

 

 

 

 

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“There is a big problem in the world where people feel that women should just deal with their pain. A lot of women think painful periods is normal, but actually it’s not, particularly when the periods are starting to affect activities in your daily life,” says Dr. Shireen Emadossadaty, GP and partner on Libresse’s “Pain Stories.” 

“Opening up the conversation around period pain will encourage women to see their GP, to be persistent about their symptoms, and hopefully we can bring down that diagnosis time. You’re not alone, period pain is common, but it’s not normal and it’s not something you should be suffering with.” 

It merits saying, here, that we know women are not the only people who experience menstrual pain; trans men and other gender minorities do as well. But to put Dr. Emadossadaty’s words in context, research shows women’s pain tends to be taken less seriously than men’s, as a rule, in medical settings (never mind everyday ones). This is also something that happens to be true for Black Americans, and, as gender fluidity becomes more visible and common, is likely to prove true for members of the trans community and other gender minorities. Just putting that out there.

The “Pain Stories” project has multiple components. A subsite gathers the stories others have shared about their pain and experiences. And it includes a downloadable pain dictionary to help notice pain in a more nuanced way. Forget the pain scale of 1-10; have you got “inner wringing”? What about bowel bashes, or fire sickness? 

This isn’t just anodyne creative play; once, for a sports injury, an osteopath asked me if the pain I felt in a knee felt hot or cold, numb, or had a quality of spread to it. Being able to expand one’s pain vocabulary makes it easier to identify a big problem or determine its source. Pain is not worth ignoring, especially when it begins to impact other realms of life, or simply one’s mood. (There is actually a subtle, little-known film about how chronic pain can cascade from, and into, more serious personal impacts, featuring Jennifer Aniston and titled Cake.)

“The Pain Dictionary was born out of my own experience of struggling to find language to express my endometriosis pain,” says Augustine Cerf, a creative at AMV BBDO. “I hope that people in pain might identify with the pain depictions and recognize their own pain in them, which could accelerate diagnosis.”

Bodyform/Libresse also published a Pain Report, which explores the global gender pain gap, explaining how we talk about it (and why we don’t more often). It features interviews from 30 female experts across multiple disciplines, and 20 advocates with painful conditions. Insights were drawn from countries like Malaysia, Colombia, the U.K., the Nordics, France, Russia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Mexico and China. Many taboos are explored, as well as trans and non-binary experiences.

Lastly, the Pain Museum (accessible through the subsite), created by Ketchum, is a virtual space that takes people on a visual journey through pain. It features interviews with Lauren Mahon and Dr. Shireen, as well as other medical experts and people with endometriosis.

“176 million women globally have endometriosis, and we need a language to help them articulate their experiences so they can get the help they need,” says Tanja Grubner, who leads femcare global marketing and communications at Essity, the parent company of Bodyform/Libresse. 

“Listening to how women feel is critical to driving change, and we know it’s so important to understand the problems before we can start solving them. By sharing our extensive research, we now hope to work closely with charities and health partners together and we will start to bring about societal change and make the world that bit easier for women globally.”

Pain Stories builds on the beautiful “Womb Stories,” released last July, which itself followed up the still-infectious “Viva La Vulva.”

CREDITS

Client: Essity
Brand: Libresse/Bodyform
Campaign title: #Painstories by Libresse
Client name: Tanja Grubner, Global Marketing & Communications Director, Femcare
Client name: Luciana de Azevedo Lara – Global Brand Communications Manager, FemCare
Agency: AMV BBDO
CCO: Alex Grieve
ECDs: Nadja Lossgott & Nicholas Hulley
Creative Directors: Toby Allen & Jim Hilson, Nadja Lossgott & Nicholas Hulley
Copywriter & Art Director: Augustine Cerf & Lauren Peters
Designer: Mario Kertstra, Jack Donovan
Agency Planner: Margaux Revol, Beatrice Farmelo, Bridget Angear
Agency Account Team: Sarah Douglas, Sarah Hore-Lacy, Katie Gorrod
Agency Creative Producer: Rosie Stipic
Business Affairs: Michelle Holmes
PR Agency: Ketchum
Practice Director: Amber Organ
Senior Account Manager: Victoria Bond
Research Company: The Outsiders
Researchers: Steven Lacey, Zoë McQuillin

“This lifelong bittersweet journey with our bodies is still considered something to shut up about,” Lossgott continues. “By visualizing and anthropomorphizing our wombs, we can begin to open up an emotional and human way to express these often complicated, contradictory feelings of love and hate, of pain and pleasure, of the mundane and the profound we constantly deal with.”

A study by Bodyform/Libresse found that 37 percent of women who miscarried felt they couldn’t grieve openly; 42 percent of women try keeping fertility treatment a secret; and 51 percent of women who’ve opted out of childbearing feel that people are constantly trying to change their minds. 

One-third of us keep menopause a secret. And 41 percent of women feel they’ll be judged for talking openly about everyday period problems, like leaks or sudden rushes of blood. Yet 66 percent say it’s important to discuss this stuff in order to cope with it.

In “Womb Stories,” the choice of having children appears as the fabled “tunnel of love,” with a lone passenger contemplating the fork in the river. Sometimes you make the decision; other times it’s made for you: One woman’s exuberant relief at seeing a spot of blood on the bathroom floor is immediately followed by two expectant mothers learning about their miscarriage. 

The music goes quiet then, and the fleshy cartoon world goes barren and blue, wind rustling over scorched earth. My eyes filled. I felt connected—to this moment, and every moment surrounding it.

There were moments I was briefly reminded of The Magic School Bus, a quirky cartoon where the fictional Miss Frizzle takes kids on field trips through space and into their bodies. Sometimes in “Womb Stories,” you long for Miss Frizzle’s weird earrings and bright voice, chaperoning you through these winding waters and parched deserts.

Much of this is endured privately, so it’s heartening to know this strange journey is shared by all womb bearers. This is why representation matters. When you can finally see yourself in something, you feel a little more real.

Out in space, a light goes out. Elsewhere, one flicks awake. A little girl discovers she’s “a woman” at a typically inconvenient moment, and the beat goes on: The pain, the quiet moments, the abject suffering, the comedy and hot flashes and the joys and transitions and, sometimes, birth.

“It’s never simple,” the ad concludes. “Let our #wombstories be heard.”

In 2002, almost 20 years ago, Danone baby food brand Blédina released “On Mom’s Side.” Created by BETC and set to The Supreme’s catchy “Baby Love,” it stands in memory as one of the first ads to truthfully illustrate motherhood: the times you’re surprised, angry, in a hurry or crying, but also the moments your children touch you in such a way that you can hardly speak. “It’s complicated to be a mother,” the ad concluded, and I hear its echo here.

I think of “On Mom’s Side” often. Many French women in advertising, who were here to see it, called it a revolution. We are so little accustomed to seeing women’s stories without softening their brutal truths that this is all it takes, sometimes, to feel revolutionary: In 2002, it was seeing an ad that acknowledged being a mother can be hard.

It’s good to see how far we’ve come. “Viva La Vulva” struck a chord because it was a pleasure to see vulvas celebrated, camel toes and all. You don’t often get to feel glad about something that feels like a problem because it’s hurting or bleeding, it smells or is hairy, or maybe, even when doing nothing at all, it could just look prettier.

A lot of brands stop here. Congrats, you’re a woman! So there’s gratification in seeing Libresse keep the conversation going, showcasing the many ways to carry a womb through life and time.

Being a woman is not just about blossoming into a sex object, dropping progeny, and exiting stage left until it’s time to share cookies with a new generation. Our bodies are temples of cacophonous pain and pleasure; they are always surprising us, sometimes in ways we’d prefer they didn’t. Seeing it on screen also makes it possible to think of our own wombs outside of its child-bearing offices, or the issues we have with it. We can transmit it into a larger story of transition, individual and collective.

This is not the first time Essity, Libresse’s parent company, has tried changing the way stories about us are conveyed. In 2018, Bodyform released “Blood Normal,” a campaign that sought to normalize the appearance of blood, not blue liquid, in visual depictions of menstruation.

“Although [‘Womb Stories’] was conceived long before the pandemic changed everything, the issues women face didn’t just get put on hold or go away because of what was going on around us,” says Tanja Grubner, FemCare global marketing and communications director at Essity.

“In many instances, Covid-19 has increased the isolation women feel and the complexities they experience. The pandemic has seen women forced to give birth alone, have their fertility treatments and endometriosis surgeries delayed and postponed. Now, more than ever, is a time to ensure women speak up about their bodies and experiences.”

“Womb Stories” launched this week across Europe. Its illustrations were produced by an impressive number of women: Sharon Lock leading creative, Roos Mattaar for the fertility animation, Kate Isobel Scott for the menopause, Haein Kim on the first period, Carine Khalife for endometriosis, Laura Jayne Hodkin for the floodgates, Salla Lehmus for the tunnel of love, and, for other animation, Annie Wong, Aylin Ohri, Meagan Elemans, Georgie Wilemore and Nella Addy. 

CREDITS

Client: Essity
Brand: Libresse/Bodyform
Title of Campaign/Name of Project: #wombstories
Global Marketing & Communications Director Femcare: Tanja Grubner
Global Marketing & Communications Director, Hht: Martina Poulopati
Global Brand Communication Manager Femcare: Luciana De Azevedo Lara
Marketing Manager – Bodyform: Traci Baxter
Marketing Director Reg. UKI & EMD Feminine: Nicola Coronado

Creative Agency
Creative Agency: AMV BBDO
Chief Creative Officer: Alex Grieve
Exec Creative Director: Nadja Lossott & Nicholas Hulley
Creative Directors: Toby Allen & Jim Hilson
Creative Team: Nadja Lossgott & Nicholas Hulley

Media
Media Agency: Zenith

Production
TV Producer: Edwina Dennison
Assistant TV Producer: Lucia Fioravanti

Design
Art Production: Fiona Bailey
Typographer/Designer: Mario Kerkstra

Account
Account Management: BAD/AD ETC Sara Abaza, Sarah Hore-Lacy, Helen Limbrey, Sarah Douglas

Production
Production Company: Chelsea Pictures
Director: Nisha Ganatra
Production Company Producer: Shanah Blevins
Production Company Executive Producer: Lisa Mehling, Pat McGoldrick
DOP/Lighting Cameraman: Natasha Braier

Production Service
Production Service Company: PSN Spain

Editing
Editor: Elise Butt

Sound Design
Sound Studio: 750mph
Sound Engineer: Sam Ashwell
Music: Priestess Shura Remix by Pumarosa
Creative Director Animation: Sharon Lock
Fertility Animator: Roos Mattar
Menopause Animator: Kate Isobel Scott @ Everyone Agency
First Period Animator: Haein Kim
Endometriosis Animator: Carine Khalife
Floodgates Animator: Laura Jayne Hodkin @ Strange Beast
Tunnel of Love Animator: Salla Lehmus @ Soja
Animator: Annie Wong
Animator: Aylin Ohri
Animator: Meagan Elemans
Animator: Georgie Wilemore
Animator: Nella Addy
Post Production: 
Comp Lead: Tri Do
Compositor: Simon Stoney
Digital Matte Painting: Lee Matthews
Flame: Tim Greenwood
Colourist: Simon Bourne
VFX Producer: Emma Cook
Design Senior Producer: Niamh O’Donohoe
Photographer: Adam Hinton
Strategists: Margaux Revol, Beatrice Farmelo, Bridget Angear
PE Agency and Other Production Partners: Ketchum (PR), Poke (website)

Some 42 percent of women feel embarrassed about their vulvas, and 61 percent feel pressure to make it look a certain way. This comes from Bodyform’s own research, conducted in 2018 among 3,000 women in the U.K., France and Sweden. 

“It is our mission to break down the taboos that hold women back, so naturally we want to help women celebrate and own their bodies,” says marketing manager Traci Baxter of Bodyform. “With our Bathroom Takeover, taking place at select venues where permissions have been granted, we want to celebrate the female form to ensure every woman feels pride in her body. Without a positive relationship with the most intimate part of our body, we can’t have a positive relationship with ourselves.” 

From 2015-16, over 200 girls under 18 underwent labiaplasty in the U.K., per the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Some 150 of them were under 15. This is a totally aesthetic procedure with major physical and psychological risks, especially for girls whose bodies are still developing.

Social media and the ready availability of porn tend to get the blame for how gross women feel about their vaggies, but that doesn’t adequately express how common and traumatic body-shaming actually is. The Netflix series Sex Education features a whole story arc about a teen who gets blackmailed when a photo of her vulva is shared with the entire school. 

And while trying to correct the problem with bathroom graffiti seems facetious, it’s not entirely daft: Ugly dick art is actually so prevalent in our culture that it’s almost desensitizing when you’re finally faced with the real thing. Could the same be said of vulvas? 

I mean, look at the almost extraterrestrial weirdness of this triumph of fallopian tubes. There’s a strong case to be made that seeing lots of different kinds of vulvas, rendered with varying degrees of artistry, does send a larger message: Your vag isn’t weird. It’s unique and sort of crazy but also beautiful and, frankly, miraculous. 

“I’m so proud to be involved with the ‘Viva La Vulva’ campaign with Bodyform and leading the charge for the Bathroom Takeover,” says Bober. “Art is one of the most powerful tools for self-expression, and the more we can raise awareness of the beautiful female form, the more women will feel empowered to celebrate their vulva and combat feelings of shame and embarrassment. This campaign is a fantastic example of Bodyform’s mission to help break down the taboos that hold women back.” 

Expect vulvas to flower across London in places that agree to replace their penis doodles. The Bathroom Takeover will run through June 1 and builds on Bodyform’s “I’ll Say It Again” festival, a celebration of women’s voices through theater, art and music.

And just because we feel like it, here’s that singing-vulva video from last year.