When it comes to ads about sanitary products like pads and tampons, we all know what to expect: shiny, happy women who wear white pants and who are always dancing with friends at music festivals and taking selfies.
There’s also that super weird trend where companies use blue liquid to demonstrate just how absorbent their products are.
Periods are meant to be ‘fun’ and ‘happy’ and not at all messy… but only if you never actually talk about the fact that having a period means you are bleeding out of your vagina.
But one UK company wants to change that with a new ad aimed at transforming the way the world talks about periods.
And it’s working.
Bodyform – who were the first company to show blood (albeit not menstrual blood) in an ad for sanitary products last year – is “calling time on period taboos”.
That means the new commercial shows RED liquid on a sanitary pad:
It also shows a dude picking up a packet of pads for a woman in his life. And get this, he doesn't look the slight bit awkward or confused about it:
And in a groundbreaking first, the video appears to show a woman with menstrual blood running down her thigh while in the shower (although some argue the limb shown is actually an arm, not a leg):
With their 'Blood Normal' campaign, the UK company wants women - and men, too - to know that periods are a natural part of life, and should be given the screen time to reflect that.
"Surely hiding something so normal only adds to the shame and embarrassment many women feel when it comes to their periods," the company's website reads.
LISTEN: A man just 'invented' a solution to women's periods. Hint: it involved a lot of glue.
Research conducted by the company found that 74 per cent of respondents (which included both men and women) want to see more 'realistic' representations of periods on their screens and in advertising.
So, the company wants to show "true-to-life" situations.
"We show blood; we show the world that the only way to kill stigma is to make the invisible visible," Bodyform said.
"By bringing blood out of the dark, onto our screens and into the conversation we're paving a positive path for women of the future. After all, shouldn't period-talk be as normal as periods themselves?"
Naturally, women were pretty happy with seeing their monthly visitor represented in a real and relatable way:
Just saw a Bodyform ad where period blood was red and not presented as that stupid blue liquid. FINALLY.
— maddy (@midmaddo) October 18, 2017
What?!? It’s not blue? I thought women had blue blood?!? I’m so confused. My world is upside down.
— Hoarse Whistler (@AdrianLuhowy) October 18, 2017
Incredible ad smashing the #periodtaboo - Thank you @bodyform #bloodnormal https://t.co/btQZZFujSR
— FightForFree (@AmikaGeorge) October 17, 2017
A bloody brilliant world where periods are normal. No shame. First ad that shows red blood on a period pad #bloodnormal #cl
— Izabela (@izabelascomms) October 17, 2017
We're with them: it's about bloody time we got a period ad that showed actual periods.