I’m not sure if I am exactly qualified to write about the theme of menstruation and the onset of one’s first period. I am a boy but I am qualified to say I have spent a lifetime dealing with sisters and girlfriends who have had to deal with the nag of menstruation and what that implicitly means for a woman’s sense of femininity. Who also seems to be doing quite well on that front is HelloFlo who have come up with a brilliant and touching take on the theme with the introduction of Camp Gyno.’
For those who don’t know (and I certainly didn’t), HelloFlo (who would have ever thought such services exist?) is a tampon subscription service which supplies all you ladies with your menstruation needs.
Thinking to tap into a new market, HelloFlo have come out with a new ad starring a pre teen girl (Camp Gyno) who becomes the summer camp hero after being the first girl among her click to experience her period. From there it is a touching take on the travails of menstruation, a theme most of us are loathe to touch given the often antiseptic feel of most ads.
Begins the ad: “It was beginning of summer, and no one knew me at camp.
“I was a just a big random loser. Then, things changed. I got my period. The red badge of courage!”
From there we go on to see the self appointed ‘Camp Gyno’ go on to host ‘menstruation demonstrations’ where she becomes a loveable terror extolling the virtues and the unpleasantries of what is in store for so many young women.
Goes on to reflect HelloFlo CEO Naama Bloom who went on to work with ad agency BBDO to produce the ad:
“I was listing out my insights about the period experience and shared the story of the girl at camp that my friends and I all turned to for advice. When Pete said ‘You mean like a Camp Gyno?’ we basically knew what we had to do. Only humor could tell this story in a way that would be relatable, endearing and sharable.”
Adds Pete Marquis of BBDO: “A lot of girls don’t go to their parents when they first get their period. They go to their friends. And a 12-year-old might not be the best source of information. We ran with the idea from there, and thought camp could be a funny setting. And a girl who embraced the idea of getting her period and seeing it as an opportunity to become popular, instead of being mortified, was pretty funny, too.”
“We’re hoping it gives the brand an open personality that embraces the topic and doesn’t tip-toe around the delicate subject matter. As you can see, we didn’t exactly tip-toe.”
Which just might be another way of saying menstruation may never be as damned as you all thought it to be (and I am sure us boys are damn glad we never have to deal with it) and if anything a pleasant rite of passage onto becoming a woman and what that all means. Yes biology never lies, nor does a clever ad that makes us smile at the pathos of being…
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