According to UNICEF 6 out of 10 girls have heard boys say that periods are dirty and disgusting. Although there have been initiatives that seek to normalize menstruation in countries with high rates of machismo such as Peru, those who are key to combating bullying and school absenteeism among girls, were not been included in the conversation: Boys.

For the first time in our country and probably in the world, with a very simple idea we developed an initiative that included boys as the main allies generating 5 million dollars in free press.

• In Peru, menstruation continues to be a taboo subject in schools, leading girls to suffer bullying from boys: 6 out of 10 girls have heard boys say that periods are dirty and disgusting, generating 35.6% absence in schools and low self-esteem.

• We needed to create a campaign to educate and raise awareness among boys and public opinion about menstruation and mitigate the bullying that this generated towards girls.

• Generate conversation in schools and the general population around the topic of menstruation, to break taboos and continue educating through our School Program.

While boys do not experience the menstruation process, they also bleed in school when they hit themselves or have typical sports accidents, and they usually use band-aids for that. With this logic, we developed bandages in the shape of pads to convey in a simple and direct way that bleeding it's a common thing, and it should not be a reason for mockery or bullying.

To gain the attention of the target audience, we distribute the bandages in 2,090 schools as part of our menstrual education program.

We distributed Band-Aids to opinion leaders, men from different fields such as sports, business, arts, fashion who organically published photos using our Band-Aid.

We made a case video that we shared on social media

We sent a press release to the media

We distributed Band-Aids to Peruvian journalists who covered the World Cup in Qatar

Insight : Men also bleed

Key Message: #BleedingIsNormal

Target audience Boys and girls from 9 to 13 years old. KOLs, Media, Public opinion.

ASSETS :

Schools Program : In 2022 we included boys in our program, being the first brand to talk about menstruation to boys. This content was very relevant for media.

Sanitary pads as band-aids : Our main asset was the band-aid. We distributed 500k boxes to schools, KOLS, journalists and media

Videocase : We create a video case and share it in social media

Men KOLS: We partner with men KOLS such as soccer players, artists, journalists, entrepreneurs, activists.

Hacking the World Cup: We partner with a soccer journalist who travelled to Qatar during the World Cup and help as distribute band-aids through fans

In 2022 we decided to take our 25 years school program about menstruation to the next level: We included boys reaching 2,090 schools in 15 cities. But we couldn't do it in a conventional way. For this reason, bandaids in the form of a sanitary pad were our main tool to communicate that bleeding is normal. We recorded the children's experience on video and made content for social media. Previously, we summoned male opinion leaders to show up with the band-aid on and the hashtag #BleedingIsNormal. The contrast of seeing boys and men for the first time talking about menstruation went viral, especially considering that Peru is still a very macho and conservative country. The campaign became a movement that had a new milestone when a very important sports journalist traveled to Qatar to cover the World Cup with our Band-Aids and distributed them live. US$5M free press achieved.

+5M$ Free Press (national and international) considering US$0.023M investment

+72M Impressions

+45M Reach

2,090 schools reached from 15 Peruvian cities

350k children educated

97% after seeing the campaign think that bleeding is normal.

87% agreed with the incorporation of men (boys) to the Schools Program.

95% recognize Nosotras as the leading brand in the normalization of the rule.

Brand appeal Increased 22 pp

Purchase intention Increased 11pp

Shareability Increased 10pp

Brand engagement Increased 6 pp

Brand identification Increased 6pp

Nosotras is an Essity brand whose purpose is to educate about menstruation and thereby break prejudices. In addition to their communication activities, for more than 25 years they have been developing school program that educates girls about menstruation. However, taking into account that bullying from male classmates is the main reason for absenteeism among girls and their lack of confidence to go to school, we decided to be the brand that for the very first time included boys in the conversation in a simple and disruptive way. Made band-aids in the shape of sanitary pads has been the perfect toolkit to educate but also to gain a huge awareness US$5M in national and international free press with a very little investment (US$0.023M)

Peru is still a very macho society where boys are not taught about topics related to menstruation because they consider it "disgusting". This lack of information causes them to harass and bully girls when they are on their menstrual periods, significantly affecting the self-esteem of girls and causing absenteeism from classes.

- 6 out of 10 girls have heard boys say that periods are dirty and disgusting

- 95% of girls feel uncorfortable to go to school in their period

- Sanitary pads brands had never talk about menstruation to boys.