Issue

Despite being a natural biological cycle, menstruation is still surrounded by shame, stigma, and silence. Nearly half of women never talk about their vaginal health even with doctors. A quarter can’t identify their own anatomy.

Meanwhile, femcare brands have historically mirrored this cultural disconnect: flat pads for curvy bodies, blue liquid instead of blood, euphemisms instead of real language. The taboo shaped the products and the products reinforced the taboo.

Insight

For decades, companies have designed pads without truly acknowledging or understanding the vagina. The entire category was built on flat, linear thinking while vulvas are not flat. Women have been expected to adapt their bodies to fit outdated designs. But if we’re to destigmatize periods, we must start with truthful design rooted in real anatomy. Kotex asked the most honest question: If vaginas are curvy, why are pads still flat?

Idea

“Normalize Periods”: a bold, multichannel campaign that breaks the stigma not only in its language, but in its very design. U by Kotex did what no other brand dared:

• Scanned over 1,000 vulvas to design the first-ever Curvy Pad, shaped to fit real bodies not outdated norms.

• Used medically accurate terms like “vagina,” “vulva,” and “labia majora” in all content no more pet names or censorship.

• Called out artificial scents with humor and honesty (“ocean breeze is for candles, not vaginas”).

• Activated the message across TikTok’s #PeriodTok, CTV, influencer partnerships, digital, and in-store.

This was regenerative brand leadership in action: aligning product, language, and cultural engagement to restore truth, confidence, and agency to women everywhere.

Impact

• Sales doubled, proving consumers respond to radical truth and design innovation.

• Sparked widespread cultural conversation, reclaiming the period narrative in Gen Z spaces and beyond.

• Redefined product design standards for the entire category.

• Solidified U by Kotex as a brand that doesn’t just talk about ending stigma it embodies it, anatomically, culturally, and systemically.