The campaign is breaking new ground in Australian advertising, showing for the first time, realistic menstrual blood. This breaks away from traditional advertising, which up until now has only ever shown a blue liquid in a laboratory setting as a substitute for period blood.
The #bloodnormal campaign features influencers and is currently running during prime-time television shows, including The Bachelor, The Project, Survivor and Gogglebox.
Libra has also worked with the writers of Ten program Neighbours to incorporate a story line involving a realistic depiction of periods into the show.
“Contrary to popular belief, women don’t bleed blue liquid, they bleed blood,” the tagline reads. “Periods are normal. Showing them should be too.”
The #bloodnormal ad features a montage of different scenarios, each showing ways that periods are part of and effect everyday life. One scene features a young man buying pads in a supermarket, another shows blood running down the leg of a young woman in the shower.
There are also multiple instances where women appear to be suffering from menstrual pain, with one woman composing an email that reads: “I am having a heavy period and will be working from home today.”
The ad portrays the lived experience of menstruation and is dismantling period stigma in the process.
“Periods are a normal part of life, but largely ignored by mainstream media. They simply don’t feature in the representation of female characters that we see every day,” says Caitlin Patterson, executive general manager of Libra parent company Asaleo.
“We believe that like any other taboo, the more people see it, the more normal the subject becomes. We want to lead the way with a campaign that tackles the issue in a positive way, showing periods in action in everyday life truthfully and honestly – because we really care about the well being of Australian women and girls.”
Libra has also launched an social media influencer campaign called ‘Bloody Awesome’ to accompany the #bloodnormal campaign. The slogan is printed on T-shirts that are available to purchase, with all proceeds going to the Share the Dignity charity.
The #bloodnormal campaign was created by British creative agency AMV BBDO last year, and has now been adapted by the Australian market. In 2018, the campaign won the Glass Lion for Change at Cannes.