Periods are a fact of life for women, and as a woman I have come to embrace mine. Like the seasons it tells me where I'm at, a benchmark letting me know everything is working the way it should for a healthy 24-year-old woman. I hate the fact that I need to keep my period to myself, I don't want to scream it to the rooftops but I wish it was less taboo. I hate feeling like need to sneak to the bathroom with my purse when I need to change my tampon or open my Midol bottle in my purse to disguise what I'm taking; it's bullshit and borderline oppressive (which is why I do a pretty half-assed job sneaking to the bathroom or opening the Midol bottle).

Anyway you frame it, women are always made to feel as though they must suppress the more human parts of themselves (we don't fart, we don't burp, we cover imperfections with make-up, holster our breasts lifting them to societies standards and we certainly don't bleed). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a woman but sometimes this box of lady-like-ness is exhausting. Kotex and the folks over at JWT must have felt the same way, because the new campaign for U by Kotex taps into this sentiment.

The Myth

Most ads for menstruation products are actually pretty effective. They show an active, happy woman in a white outfit, they allude that she has her period and uses pastel colored products covered in flowers during her period selling us(women) an idea¹ . We buy the idea that we too could be that happy and unafraid of wearing white during our periods. Because we buy the idea we buy the product. Unfortunately by the time our period is over with we realize that idea we bought, is nothing close to our reality -- no amount of feminine hygiene products can make us stop bleeding 4 days out of every month.

Our Reality

We can't change the fact that we get our periods, but we can change our attitudes towards it. With a target audience of 18 to 21-year-old women² the U by Kotex campaign slogan "break the cycle" is not only a great pun, it speaks to a much larger issues in our culture including womens' lack of education about menstruation, society's fear of menstruation, and apprehension to talk about womens' issues as a whole. While the print and broadcast ads focus on luring young women in with witty, sarcastic and satirical commentary about menstruation products, the aim of the website is to educate these women about their periods.

Breaking the Cycle

What U by Kotex does really well is establish a distinct difference between myth and reality. Both the Reality Check and the So Obnoxious broadcast ads (seen above) paint all other menstruation product ads as dispensers of unrealistic ideas about what menstruation is (or rather what it could be if you used their product). Enter U by Kotex. Kotex acknowledges the myth we all bought into then invites us to rethink our relationship with our feminine hygiene products.

Next Kotex takes charge re-educating us with their U by Kotex website takes charge. This is a website built on facts. The homepage carousel cycles through facts about periods such as:

• "79% of girls don't see what dancing in white dresses has to do with periods."
• ..."83% of girls are uncomfortable talking to their parents about periods"
• ..."85% of girls are afraid to be seen with a tampon"

Upon digging deeper on the site you'll find a page full of statistics titled "It's time to Break the Cycle" about women and their feelings/thoughts towards vaginal health and menstruation. Fueled by a survey of 1,607 North American women between the ages of 14 and 35³, these stats do two things.

Firstly, they inform. Based on these statistics I personally think our culture has a long way to go before we're at an acceptable place when it comes to understanding the vaginal health of women. I believe most women who read these stats would not be surprised at the results the survey yielded, instead I think they would be more surprised that anyone bothered to bring up the matter of vaginal health or menstruation at all.

Most women claim to be knowledgeable about vaginal health issues,
but more than 1/3 cannot dispel some basic myths.

Secondly reading statistics such as the one above levels the playing field, we can all stop pretending we have our vaginal health under control and admit the more we talk the more we'll learn.

One insight to rule them all

Anyone could have created an advertising campaign based on assumptions, in fact that is what feminine product advertisers have been doing for years. Assuming all women feel disgusted by their periods (or themselves while on their periods) and therefore wrapping products in pastel colors and flowers selling women the idea of of beauty and being carefree while enduring a monthly reminder of their womanhood.

In actuality, this assumption isn't entirely incorrect. According to Kotex's study approximately 47-67% of women say they feel dirty when they have their periods⁴. This statistic would be a great insight if it wasn't absolutely devastating that a majority of women feel dirty once a month because of something completely natural. Rather than moving forward with an insight is hinged to women feeling poorly about themselves Kotex's survey digs deeper and really gets to the heart of what is going on when it comes to vaginal health, menstruation and advertising.

Women are frustrated, but not with their periods – seven out of ten (70%) women agree
that it’s about time society changes how it talks about vaginal health issues. Women are
insulted by blue liquid advertisements and snarky jokes, and they are tired of skirting
around honest discussions regarding a natural, normal, and healthy process.⁵

Great advertising campaigns are built on insights surrounding a target demographic like the one above. Kotex did their research and delivered a campaign that answers the desires of their demographic to stop pussy-footing around vaginal health issues and get real.

Why I LOVE this campaign

When it comes down to brass tacks this campaign does the same thing all other feminine hygiene products ads do, it sells an idea. Where this campaign differs is in the type of idea that it sells. This campaign has nothing to do with feeling better while you have your period it's about feeling better about your period and your self while you have your period. It's about ending our censorship⁶ of women's health issues to obtain a greater good and the ideas put forth in this campaign move towards affecting a larger social and cultural change. In a way the idea this campaign sells is that women shouldn't need to feel embarrassed by the very things that make them women...their vaginas! I love this campaign for the same reason I love Eve Ensler: both acknowledge that having a vagina does not make you less, nor should it strip you of power, your entitlements or respect -- instead it simply makes you woman and that's a beautiful thing.

I recently dug this song by Kate Miller-Heidke called "Are You Fucking Kidding Me?" up on the iTunes Store. I thought the song a rather genious and timely reflection of relationships in an era where Facebook is a primary method used when keeping in touch with friends (and old flames). I especially like the resolution of the song - "Click ignore"...sometimes it's best for us to for-go the urge to stalk the ones we once cared about to preserve our sanity. Enjoy! And if you like it don't forget to buy the song on iTunes.

Lyrics for Are You Fucking Kidding Me?

They say every one should have their heart broken
...at least once
That that is how you grow emotionally
Well, I have been misused by many, many, many men,
but nothing can compare to how you treated me
At times it really felt as though the pain was here to stay
And though it's many years ago, I feel it to this day

And now you wanna be my friend on Facebook...
Are you fucking kidding me?

All the memories are flooding back to me now
All the ways you stole the light from my eyes
I traveled so far just to get away from you!
Till this mornings friend request surprise

At times it really felt as though I'd never smile again
You narcissistic ass hole, oh you nasty nasty man

And now you wanna be my friend on Facebook...
Are you fucking kidding?

I don't wanna know what kind of cocktail you are
Or which member of The Beatles or which 1950's movie star
I don't give a toss if you're a ninja or a pirate,
I'd suspect you'd be a pirate but I don't wanna verify it
And I don't give a shit what your stripper name is
Or if your Kitty had a litter

Look, just follow me on twitter
I don't care about your family tree
and I certainly don't want you poking me!
...again

And now you wanna be my friend on Facebook...
Oh you fucking fucking fuck.

Click, ignore....

I am not a huge sports fan, but I love the Olympics. They represent an opportunity not only for athletes, but for designers and artists as well. The branding of the games must represent the host city, but be accessible and understood by billions of people from all over the world. This is no small task. Perhaps my favorite part of the artistry and design of the Games is the artistic innovation that is presented. You have seen it before in Beijing's architectural Bird's Nest for their 2008 Games,¹ London's 2012 Olympic logo (I know most people hate it, but I think its brilliant),² and now in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic metals.

Why these metals are innovative

Obviously the fact that these metals break the standard form factor for Olympic metals with their sexy, modern, wavy shape, but that was not the piece of innovation I was impressed by; instead I was impressed by where the raw metal to make these awards came from. Rather than mine for the ridiculous amount of metal required to make 1,014 Olympic metals,³ the Olympic committee opted to recycle 6.8 metric tons of metal from landfill bound circuit boards. According to my math that means that over half of the metal used for the Olympic metals was recycled.⁴ It's good to see an organization finding a way to recycle at least some of the incredible amount of e-waste produced world wide each year.⁵ For more on these metals visit the Vancouver 2010's page about the metals.