Modibodi and PUMA have launched a new campaign called ‘You take on the game. We’ll take care of leaks’ featuring members of Brisbane City FC. 

The global absorbent apparel brand (born in Australia), and the sportswear giant first teamed up in March 2022, and the latest campaign celebrates the third drop of their active period underwear range.

Designed to closely align with both PUMA and Modibodi’s positioning, the integrated global campaign includes digital and social roll-outs with ambassadors from Brisbane City FC. Players – including captain Jamilla Riley – will bring to life the benefits of playing on your period. 

“As someone who menstruates and plays soccer in a white uniform, I can attest to the discomfort and anxiety that combination can create, particularly when you are young,” says Riley.

“You spend your time shamed by the fear of leaks, and it can take all your mental strength to refocus on the game at hand.”

Strict all-white dress codes in sports came under fire during the Wimbledon tennis tournament in July last year. ‘Address The Dress Code’ campaigners, wearing white skirts with red undershorts at one of the women’s finals, said these rules did not suit the needs of menstruating players. 

In response to the backlash, Wimbledon announced an update to the dress code in November, which will allow women competitors to wear mid/dark-coloured undershorts if they choose to.

“Requirements for other clothing, accessories and equipment remain unchanged,” the statement says.

It’s a conversation Modibodi was clearly keen to join with its latest campaign.

“We wanted to create a campaign to destigmatise the challenges of menstruating while competing, and show athletes a new world in which they can feel confident and supported to play while they bleed,” says Modibodi CMO Liana Lorenzato.

“We wanted to remove anxiety and the fear of leaking so athletes can focus on their game, not their period.”

For more Modibodi collaborations, read about how the brand tackled period poverty with Plan International Laos.

Tampon and pad brands love encouraging menstruators to ‘get active!’ ‘wear white’ or even to ‘cheer through the bleed’ in campaigns. 

Boody, Australia’s B Corp certified underwear brand, has taken aim at these ads with a contrasting approach. To promote its new period and leak-proof underwear, the brand has released a campaign with alt/shift/Sydney telling its audience to ‘do less’ while on their period.

“On most days, we’re superheroes. But not today,” the video ad begins, showing models lounging in their underwear eating pizza, or slumping in discomfort on the toilet seat.

“Be kind to yourself and the planet.”

Subverting narratives of empowerment 

The menstrual market’s usual ‘do a happy dance’ message taps into girlboss narratives of female empowerment. These brands sell products by showing women their pads or leak-proof underwear feel so comfortable they will completely forget they even have their period and be able to take on anything that comes at them.

But there is another popular feminist discourse that asks less of women and people who menstruate. It centres around how our working lives and society in general cater to the typical 24-hour hormonal cycles of cis men, rather than the 28-day cycles of cis women. 

The campaign taps into these politics of menstruation, as well as discussions trending online among the new generation of workers that reject productivity as a measure of worth, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. 

Boody has cleverly weaved this serious sentiment into a softer, self-care aesthetic, featuring models lounging in Boody underwear in trendy interiors.

Disruption in period marketing

Disruption is becoming an increasingly popular tactic in marketing period products. The UK brand Bodyform was reportedly the first to show blood in a pad advert in 2017. Australia’s Modibodi has followed suit, releasing a taboo-busting campaign in June that featured red blood and masturbation on your period. 

#DoLess was the first campaign alt/shift/Sydney put together for Boody. During the ideation process, the agency recognised the role that Boody could play in helping reshape the nation’s views on periods without treading the same territory as Bodyform or Modibodi.

“We knew there was a real opportunity to break the mould and set a new standard for Australians who menstruate,” says alt/shift/Sydney general manager Andie Crawford.

“With #DoLess, we’re making a statement against the truly unrealistic period ads and creating something far more achievable. This campaign is one that, as an agency, we are really proud to be a part of.” 

“When landing on the campaign creative, we worked closely with alt/shift/Sydney to create something that was ownable and that would reflect our core values,” says Boody’s global head of brand and marketing Ruth Haffenden.

“We wanted to make our mark within the menstrual market but in a way that was against the status quo and that would make a real difference to the lives of Australians that menstruate.”

The Australian leak-proof underwear brand Modibodi has partnered with Plan International Laos to help girls manage their periods at school.

In March and April 2022, staff from the District Education and Sports Bureau distributed Modibodi’s reusable period underwear to girls in 15 schools in Houn District, Oudomxay Province. More than 2000 students received the period underwear packs, each containing five period pants.  

Period poverty, characterised by lack of access to menstrual products, management and education, is a serious global health issue that reinforces gender inequality. The first-ever report on effective funding recommendations to address period poverty found roughly 500 million people lack complete menstrual health and hygiene. 

It’s not a quick-fix problem, particularly when it comes to crossing borders and acting with cultural safety.

What Modibodi and Plan International did in Laos

According to Modibodi and Plan International Laos, the students visited had limited knowledge of sexual and reproductive health. 

Some groups of girls had learned misconceptions about menstruation, including warnings about foods that shouldn’t be eaten and activities that shouldn’t be done when someone has their period. Many women in Laos believe that you should not wash your hair when you are menstruating, for example.

“Distribution events like we did for the Modibodi packs are a great way to get the conversation started to normalise periods,” says Plan’s adolescent project manager Manivanh Phetsalath. 

“An important part of our work is to break these taboos. During these types of events, we explain to the girls that having your period is a natural and normal thing that happens every month. You can eat what you want and do activities as you would normally.”

Having never seen or heard of period pants, the students were initially worried about how they would absorb fluids. Plan International has assured that, after using them, these girls were confident to wear them and felt more comfortable participating in school activities on their period – while saving on the cost of sanitary pads, and reducing the amount of garbage inside the school. 

Modibodi’s mission to dispel menstrual myths in Australia

Modibodi has been equally passionate about busting period taboos on home soil.

In September 2020, the brand launched ‘The New Way to Period’ TVC campaign designed to normalise conversations about periods. In a rare move in the advertising world, the film actually portrayed blood as red and showed real-life scenarios menstruating people could relate to. 

The film was temporarily banned from Facebook, and was only reinstated due to industry backlash. 

Although Modibodi was initially launched to help support periods and bladder leaks for women, the business now sells a full range of apparel catering to leaks experienced across the lifespan and across genders.

To follow suit, in June 2022, Modibodi came out with a more inclusive campaign centred around destigmatising body leaks. It daringly explored self-pleasure on your period, a breastfeeding mum’s first night out with leaky breasts, and incontinence in all life stages.

“The videos show moments of truth and comfort – whether that’s physical, emotional or psychological. Instead of showing leaks as a source of shame or discomfort, we focussed on moments where people are enjoying and celebrating their bodies in confidence,” Modibodi’s Chief Marketing Officer Liana Lorenzato tells Marketing.

“We’ll always continue to encourage open conversation and education, breaking taboos and reducing body shame, stigma and isolation derived from these ‘taboo’ subjects.” 

To support the cause, Modibodi is available for purchase online.