For the first time in the Middle East a brand started a conversation considered far too controversial for anyone else to start.

All driven by the symbolic power of one personal item that turned secrecy and shame into a defiant act of normality.

What started as an influencer engagement quickly became a viral topic engaging in over 40M conversations in the Middle East.

By empowering women to display their menstrual pads boldly, "Taboo Totes" shattered pad shame, effectively utilizing social media's reach and influence, shifting perceptions and driving cultural changes.

In the Middle East, menstruation is highly stigmatized.

It is often viewed as impure or shameful, leading to restricted conversations and limited access to menstrual products.

Despite no religious teaching enforcing these taboos, societal expectations often dictate that women should keep their periods private, avoiding discussion or visibility.

This secrecy can lead to feelings of isolation and embarrassment among women, inhibiting open dialogue and education about menstruation.

Today, majority of women continue to hide period products in public.

They end up concealing them in old newspapers or black plastic bags as if they are doing something illegal.

This stigma is deeply ingrained, leading to women teaching their daughters to keep menstruation a "hush-hush" topic and treating menstrual products as a secret.

Nana has, for the longest time, challenged period taboos around the world.

However, in the Middle-East no global brand has dared to open this conversation due to the high potential risk of wide-spread backlash.

This campaign is an example of how societal taboos can be challenged, giving hope to the women of the region that the generations to come will not have to feel ashamed about their period anymore.

NANA has been a pioneer in challenging period taboos around the world.

However, in the Middle-East no global brand has dared to open this conversation due to the high potential risk of wide-spread backlash.

Meanwhile, majority of women continue to hide period products in public.

They end up concealing them in old newspapers or black plastic bags as if they are doing something illegal.

It was time to change behavior by ending the unnecessary secrecy around menstruation.

Getting women to speak about it was not enough.

We needed a powerful symbol that will allow the media and the society at large to recognize and embrace the cause.

Shifting the topic from debate to practice.

TABOO TOTES

To challenge the secrecy around pad taboos, we created a symbol of transparency - a bespoke line of see-through bags "Taboo Totes".

We collaborated with daring local influencers to proudly showcase their pads in transparent totes during the period of one of the region’s most anticipated events – the Dubai fashion week.

Unbranded and without carrying any message, our totes then made their way into the media frenzy of the Dubai Fashion week, making an appearance that could by no means be overlooked in a mainstream pop culture event.

Shifting carrying period pads:

FROM SHAME TO PRIDE.

FROM CONCEALMENT TO TRANSPARENCY.

In the lead-up to the campaign, we conducted extensive research to determine if it was the right time for the brand to challenge this long-standing taboo.

71% of women were feeling embarrassed to buy period products and 78% of women were the ashamed to carry sanitary pads, often behaving as if purchasing personal hygiene products is an illicit act.

However, 82% of women in the region expressed a desire to freely buy and carry sanitary pads in public without feeling shamed.

We quickly realized that despite potential outrage, there was an unspoken demand for change. This was underscored by a tension that lingered just beneath the surface of public stigma.

Our strategy was to create a symbol of period transparency— that would challenge these pad taboos and normalize the conversation, empowering women to carry the message as openly as they have carried the stigma.

The campaign started two weeks before Dubai fashion week and followed three phases:

SPARK:

It began with influencers featuring a transparent bag in their “Get Ready With Me” for #FashionWeek' videos, showcasing Nana pads inside.

A daring act, never seen before by people in the region.

This phase brought in the backlash we were expecting.

EMBRACE:

Instead of backing down, we owned the cause and turned the viral message into a full fledge #NotATaboo campaign:

Introducing our Bespoke “Taboo Totes” collection.

We then featured them on billboards. magazines, and social pages to normalize the conversation.

COMMIT:

Committed to sustaining momentum, we amplified our campaign by flooding social media with educational content

At this point, we started making our way not only to a key event like Dubai Fashion Week, but going beyond regional boundaries and capturing global attention, thereby significantly influencing the international dialogue on pad shame.

40M People Engaged

$20M Earned Media

73% of the region reached

37% drop in “pad taboos” vs. before the campaign

In the Middle East, menstruation is a controversial topic, considered taboo for any social media channel.

It is often viewed as impure or shameful, leading to restricted conversations and limited access to menstrual products.

This secrecy can lead to feelings of isolation and embarrassment among women, inhibiting open dialogue and education about menstruation.

Today, majority of women continue to hide period products in public.

They end up concealing them in old newspapers or black plastic bags as if they are doing something illegal.

This stigma is deeply ingrained, leading to women teaching their daughters to keep menstruation a "hush-hush" topic and treating menstrual products as a secret.