Whisper's new ad highlights the importance of menstrual education

Whisper educates Indian mothers about the inner biologies of a menstruator and enlights them with the missing chapter of menstrual education.

Around 23 million girls in India drop out of school every year because of the lack of menstrual hygiene management which includes access to sanitary pads, menstrual education and access to clean toilets and running water. 

In 2020, Whisper launched their campaign ‘Keep Girls in School’ that aimed at educating Indians about menstruation and keeping them from dropping out of school upon reaching puberty. 

As a part of the fourth edition of the #KeepGirlsinSchool movement, the brand has released a new advertisement under the campaign, titled ‘The Missing Chapter - For Moms.’ It highlights the lack of menstrual education in Indian schools and among mothers. 

The new film, conceptualized by Leo Burnett starts with a girl student, Purvi skipping school multiple days in a row. Concerned about her missing out on her studies, and to ensure that their friend doesn't miss another day of school due to her periods, Purvi's classmates resolve to educate Purvi's mother on the issue themselves. They go on an elaborate mission to make a makeshift uterus using a variety of items, including a bicycle seat, a plastic bottle, pipes, marbles, and watermelons, to explain the menstrual cycle to their missing friend’s mother. The kids, in turn, normalize talking about menstruation with their efforts.

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The ad film goes on to explain how in India, 70% of mothers are unaware of the biology of menstruation. Although mothers are our first teachers, they can possibly teach us what they themselves were never taught. Through this campaign, the brand highlights the pressing concern of how 1 in 5 girls are forced to quit school because they are unaware or uneducated about their own bodies and their functions. 

Prior to releasing the ad film, in order to make a measurable impact and bring a change at a micro level, Whisper and its ad agency Leo Burnett decided that if menstruators don't have access to the chapter on menstrual education, they will bring the chapter to them in 2022. By using India’s oldest communication form – ‘wall-art’, the brand spread period education by taking this missing chapter to India’s smallest towns and villages.

Whisper uses their social media extensively to educate and spread the importance of menstrual education as well.