Why is this work relevant for PR?

Over 300,000 Filipinas experience vaginal inflammations and infections yearly. We need to openly talk about this, but we’re not even comfortable saying VAGINA out loud yet. It was time for the VAGINA to be talked about with carefree confidence, and real Filipinas – influencer or not – needed to drive this purposeful PR movement that would not just empower the vagina, but also elevate Carefree’s social relevance.

Background

In 2021, Carefree launched its Panty Proud campaign that encouraged Filipinas to share their clean and fresh panties loud and proud, with Carefree pantyliners that protect our panties from wetness and discharge that can cause odor and bacteria “down there”. Beyond the functional campaign, an open brief was given to the agency to come up with a sustaining initiative that will strengthen its bold and confident Panty Proud message, while establishing Carefree as the brand that champions better vaginal health.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

With over 60 different slangs and emojis that refer to the VAGINA, people from a conservative country like the Philippines are clearly uncomfortable with the using word. Even as health becomes top priority because of the pandemic, vaginal health isn’t even part of the conversation at all. We needed to BREAK THE STIGMA and let the VAGINA be confidently used in conversations. The best way to shout this out was to not beat around the bush – or no bush ;) – and claim #NoShameInTheVAGINA! Carefree embraced its namesake, broke free from just safely referring to the vagina as “down there,” and shouted out the “cringeworthy”, “inappropriate”, and “dirty” VAGINA word on social media — making a stand that it IS normal and should always be okay to talk about the vagina and vaginal health openly.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

The young, modern 18-to-29-year-old Filipinas may be carefree in many things, but not when it comes to their VAGINA. With lack of awareness plus shame that surrounds the word (thus, the subject), vaginal health issues could be left untreated for many: • 140,000+ Filipina vaginal inflammations yearly • 120,000+ pregnant women get UTI yearly • 100,000 women had cases of vaginal fungal infections in 2020 Filipinas need to finally be free from this stigma for the sake of their vaginal health! To make this happen, the movement had to be: • Sincere – centered on Filipinas openly talking about personal, authentic VAGINA-related struggles and experiences • Straight-to-the-Point – all conversations and communications focused on the VAGINA and vaginal health education • Social-1st – discovered on top social platforms, powered by engaging social innovations • Self-Aware – granting women bodily autonomy with the ability to talk about the VAGINA without judgment

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

Over 100 Key Opinion Leaders representing various women profiles, interests, and advocacies led the movement by starting conversations on their platforms. KOLs shared the eye-opening issue about the VAGINA stigma, talked about the vaginal health realities Filipinas face, and shared their own personal experiences on their Instagram feed. Included in their posts is the brand-created #NoShameInTheVAGINA Manifesto Video to boost message awareness. This was followed by Instagram stories of KOLs playing an educational vaginal health AR Quiz Filter. To further normalize conversations with family and friends, Digital Stickers that claimed #NoShameInTheVAGINA, asked HOW’S YOUR VAGINA?, pushed NORMALIZING VAGINA CONVERSATIONS, and embraced being CAREFREE & PROUD were launched on Viber and Telegram. To close the campaign, Carefree’s brand ambassador along with 2 KOLs and an OB-GYN hosted a Game Show Livestream where Carefree educated and engaged viewers through fun informative games and honest VAGINA discussions.

List the results (30% of vote)

With just a limited budget of USD 25k, #NoShameInTheVAGINA achieved: • 4.54M Filipina lives touched • 202,943 Filipinas educated on vaginal health basics through the AR Quiz Filter • 184,408 Filipinas recognized the importance of the movement on Instagram • 46,808 women guided in the live VAGINA discussion in Lazada! • Exceeded click thru benchmarks by +26 points Beyond the numbers, Filipinas who encountered the brand and KOL posts chose to be carefree and open up on social, with responses like: • “It’d be nice to have an actual conversation about the vagina without feeling ashamed or without anyone having to laugh about it. This is great to finally let people know that we shouldn’t feel embarrassed talking about it” –@arielle.therese • “Before, I am afraid to talk about this topic esp. when it comes to vaginal discharge, but I realize that for me to take care more of myself, I need to learn, to engage, and to understand that this is important and relevant…” –@rvll_dvd • “Truly a taboo topic that NEEDS to be talked about, we should be educated on what’s normal for the vagina and what’s not.” –@itsangela_fortes • “YES GIRL!!! This kind of conversations should be normalized!!! @carefree.ph” –@lianesntg • “#NoShameInTheVAGINA! The vagina is a normal word!” –@melissandelosreyes • “Let’s break the stigma! STOP THE SHAME!” –@kzrxtzn • “This is such a good campaign!! NORMALIZE VAGINAL HEALTH CONVOS” –@tjhotdxg

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

As a brand that promises to keep the vagina and its surrounding parts clean, fresh, and healthy, Carefree recognized that they should take initiative and stress the importance of destigmatizing conversations about the vagina. After all, who better to encourage others to normalize talk on vaginal health than a brand whose product is meant to protect it! #NoShameInTheVAGINA because it’s kept fresh, clean and healthy, and because everyone should be more open and honest about their vaginal health.