Mumbai, India – To honour the World Menstrual Hygiene Day, which is celebrated every 28 May signifying the 28 days typical gap between 2 periods and 5 days which is the average duration of a period, India’s sanitary napkin brand Stayfree has launched a new campaign, aimed at raising awareness and attempting to change damaging social norms around menstruation.
The new campaign, which was conceptualised in collaboration with DDB Mudra, is part of the brand’s efforts to normalise periods. These efforts include education partnerships, promoting best practices for Menstrual Hygiene Management, and encouraging open conversations on the subject, by the people who matter the most to the young girl – her family.
To unmute and normalise conversations around periods, Stayfree wanted to nudge those primarily responsible for a young girls’ holistic coming of age – mothers and fathers – to step up and do more to change this narrative of shame and silence. This journey began in 2020 when Stayfree helped young girls say ‘It’s Just a Period’ by encouraging their fathers and mothers to say it with them. After all, while menstruation may mark the physical maturity of a girl’s body, she is still emotionally vulnerable and ill-equipped to brave societal stigmas around periods. Hence, it becomes imperative for the people closest to the young girl – fathers, mothers, and teachers – to help her understand that periods are just a normal biological process.
Continuing this school of thought, Stayfree’s new film aims to encourage fathers to be involved in the period conversation with daughters because every conversation has an impact beyond that moment. It helps set the tone that periods need not be hushed conversations and open dialogue can make the father-daughter bond stronger.
Manoj Gadgil, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health’s vice president of marketing for India, noted that they believe the onus of normalising period conversations rests on the people that the young girl trusts – her family, teachers, and society at large, and Stayfree is once again stressing the role of a father because they realised that there is a distinct vacuum in a father-daughter relationship during her teenage years.
He further shared that right from the daughter’s birth, fathers are increasingly taking on greater responsibility for caregiving; a fact recognized by corporates who are now offering generous paternity leaves, and these same fathers want nothing but the best when it comes to supporting her dreams and ambitions, no matter how unconventional they may be.
“Yet, during her teenage years, they take a step back and let the mother become the primary parent to help her navigate her periods. This begins the subtle conditioning around periods – hushed voices, not to be spoken about in front of the men of the household and the accompanying worry about storing, changing, and disposing of pads. This film urges fathers to do more- to talk to their daughters and help drive more positive social norms and behaviour around periods,” said Gadgil.
Meanwhile, Pallavi Chakravarti, DDB Mudra’s creative head for West, said “‘So what if Dad pretended that periods didn’t exist? So, what if he pointedly looked the other way when I was young and confused and bleeding for the first time? It isn’t his job to talk to me about menstruation’ – Women believe this to be true. Stayfree digs deeper to unearth what lies beneath this age-old norm, resulting in revelations for both fathers and daughters.”
