Busting Taboos: How Brands Are Leaning In To Controversy To Reshape Culture

Creative Directors Loren and Bron on busting taboos with Persil in Creative Salon

For Persil, stains are a sign of life and yet there is one that all laundry brands have ignored: period stains.

For half the population, periods start around 12 years old and don’t stop for the next 40 years. Stains are a common occurrence for anyone who menstruates. But despite being one of the most common stains, 72% of people who bleed feel embarrassed about them.

Working with Persil, we didn’t just want to wash away the stain, we wanted to wash away the taboo. So we created a campaign to do just that.

Guided by a female-led production team, we invited anyone menstruating to be part of our shoot. Over three days, our cast bled into garments. The result was an intimate portrayal of menstruation in all its shapes, flows and contexts across different fabrics and experiences.

Our images sparked online conversations and prompted people to share their own personal stories of period stains. We selected twenty stories that reflected both how nuanced and natural stains can be and printed them in a book along with our images.

Outdoor print ads and an exhibition spread the reach of the campaign further to ensure the taboo was truly washed away.