Using a Platform for Good: Why 5 Communicators Decided to Say This Is Not a Pad

A group of women from TBWA\ Health Collective and TBWA\World Health have banded together to bring awareness and spark change to a startling fact.: one in four people in the US can’t afford period products and are forced to use unhealthy alternatives instead. 

The unhealthy alternatives they resort to are old pieces of clothes, socks, cardboard boxes, and even a page from a newspaper.

Some cramp-inducing facts:

• 52% of students have worn period products for longer than recommended because they can’t afford new ones
• 34% of people who menstruate are unable to afford needed menstrual hygiene supplies
• 11% of people who menstruate experience this issue on a monthly basis

On Saturday, October 14th, on Period Action Day, the team launched #NotAPad. NotAPad is a platform designed with two groups in mind - those who need help and those who want to help. Partnering with PERIOD.org, the global youth-powered non-profit that strives to end period poverty and stigma through advocacy, education, and service; the group is bringing awareness to period poverty and the organisations who are helping to fight it. 

Partners across Omnicom came together to support this effort, including a partnership with Outdoor Media Group (OMG) to help secure over 4,000+ OOH media placements in key markets like NYC, Chicago, Seattle, New Jersey and LA, taking over double decker buses, bus shelters, billboards, and more with beautiful, thought provoking creative.

Said creative director Daniela Varela, “We are women in the industry of health creation. We are able to take good care of our health and feel it is crucial for us to leverage this privilege to as many people as possible.”

No one should have to choose between affording menstrual products or being forced to use cheap and unhealthy alternatives. To get involved and learn more about #NotAPad, please visit here.