Johnson & Johnson takes on the awkwardness around the female hygiene theme in its new “Be Real” Carefree’s campaign launched in Australia and New Zealand. The brand communicates the message that women should not shush the talks about periods and vaginal health since it’s part of a healthy life of any woman.

The Carefree “Be Real” ads, broadcasted on TV in prime time and on the Carefree YouTube channel, reveal the moments of anxiety, social discomfort and shyness related to this topic. The mycarefree.com.au and mycarefree.co.nz online platforms feature stories that inspire women to feel free and even laugh discussing this.

The campaign by DDB Sydney has been inspired by the research among Australian women, conducted to discover their attitude towards the theme of feminine health. According to the research, respondents believe other women’s talk about their periods is vulgar (26%), crude (29%), and embarrassing (41%). The new effort aims to change these perceptions and help build a social atmosphere where this talk would be considered as normal as talks about workouts and diets.

“With this campaign, we needed to reassure girls that whatever they’re experiencing, however scary or uncomfortable in relation to their period, is actually perfectly normal. We felt the most effective way for us to do this was to get other people to talk about what they’ve gone through in the past, or are going through now,” commented Jen Speirs, creative director DDB Sydney. The conversation that Carefree is starting with the TVCs will continue online where people can share their own real stories. The idea being that when girls hear lots of different stories, they’ll see just how similar we all are. And there’s something very comforting in that.”