To effectively abolish the Tampon Tax for our customers.

Tesco reduced the price of all sanitary products - own-brand and branded - by 5%, covering 5p in every £1 spent.

This wasn’t just an advert, or a film idea - this was a business idea Tesco invested in and put their money behind. Paying the Tampon Tax on behalf of their customers is a pledge of £5million of their own profits every year. And this isn’t a one off stunt - this is something Tesco have promised to do for as long as the Tampon Tax exists.

Tesco made history by becoming the first retailer to remove the Tampon Tax, and then 3 other major supermarkets did the same.

This campaign sends out a message of support and inclusion, and highlights how Tesco are both by and on their customer’s side: a real life application of Every Little Helps.

To launch, we took to the streets to tell the most important people first - our customers. Using a light film crew and an interviewer, we stopped women, young and old, in the street and asked them about the Tampon Tax. We captured women’s outrage and indignation around the issue, as well as their delight that Tesco are absolving the tax: a real life application of Every Little Helps and an embodiment of how Tesco values the rights of all women.

This film was put on the brand’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and the activity was held together with a simple call to action: #TescoTamponTaxOff in order to encourage others to address this injustice and follow suit.

POS signposted the campaign in every Tesco store in the UK, highlighting the price reduction and the reason for it.

Industry leadership

Tesco led the way for other supermarkets to follow. Just 10 days after launch, Waitrose declared they would also remove 5% tax from their feminine products. 5 days after that Morrisons and The Co-op also followed suit.

Impact

To date, Tesco has saved their customers £3.2 million, and will continue to save women money for as long as the tax exists.

Media coverage

Due to Tesco’s groundbreaking reveal, the #TescoTamponTaxOff campaign sparked conversations in 87 countries, generating over 2.3 billion media impressions despite having no paid media spend behind it.

This video received 59% positive sentiment in news coverage; compared to Tesco’s brand average of +12%.

Most importantly, we have saved young girls from ever having to pay the Tampon Tax.