Libra's new ad campaign #bloodnormal shows, for the first time, period blood in an advertisement. This stands in direct contrast to previous advertising which never mentioned blood or only alluded to 'liquid', with a medical-looking blue dye that would be poured onto a pad.
In feminist circles, topics like period shaming and the pros and cons of alternative menstrual products are well-trodden. Activists have successfully advocated against the tampon tax in Australia. There has been an Oscar-winning documentary on periods, and a period emoji. I've seen people posting pictures of period blood and bloody sheets online. Organisations like One Girl and Bloody Good Period have been working to reduce period poverty. So when I watched the ad, I saw it for what it was: a mainstream response to a movement that had been going on for years.
In fact, the blood may not even be the most progressive part of the ad. In one scene, a man is seen buying pads. The audience is left to infer — and, given Libra's history, I think it is intended to convey — that this is a man getting pads for his partner. But it can also be read as a man buying pads for himself.
This would be a great step forward, for the only company making menstrual products in Australia to acknowledge that not all menstruators are women. Trans and nonbinary activists have been calling for more inclusive language in discussions around menstruation and for gender neutral products for periods for a while now. It's been a gap in the market that only in the last few years has started to be addressed.
So when I was tagged in the ad on Facebook a few days ago and I scrolled through the comments I was surprised, even knowing how deep period shaming runs, at how vehement the comments were. The ad was called 'revolting' and 'disgusting', and a trickle of blood deemed 'gory'. Some complained it was insensitive to run an ad that would force parents to explain menstruation to their children, or young women (menstruators) to watch ads about menstruation with (cis) male members of their family — as if to address menstrual bleeding would be something terrible.
What's interesting to me is that while a few of the comments said that the ad was 'unnecessary', the volume and content of the complaints actually highlight the need for ads like these. That people can watch