AMV BBDO and TENA create coming of age ad exposing the realities of menopause

Navigating the menopause.

Directed by Shannon Murphy and produced by Lief, AMV BBDO’s ad for TENA tells the touching story of a mother and daughter as the mother navigates the menopause. 

The film leans into the idea that menopause is often spoken about as puberty in reverse—but where puberty gets its manifold tales of rage and becoming, the menopause is left behind. Drawing on coming of age filmic techniques and tropes, the film extends the beauty and cultural clout of the genre to shine a spotlight on the oft ignored realities of the menopause, to tell a new story, the second coming of age.

Meta Redstedt, global master brand and communications director at TENA said: “TENA is tackling female ageism, presenting a modern perspective on how midlife women live, championing their participation in society, and representation in culture. With this campaign we are so proud to create a new narrative for the menopause, hopefully starting important conversations in households across the country.”

Lauren Peters and Augustine Cerf, creatives at AMV BBDO said, “People going through the menopause also deserve their emotionally nuanced coming of age stories of rage, confusion, liberation and becoming. We hope this campaign can reinject humanity and beauty into the life stage, subvert damaging and demeaning stereotypes and help women feel better supported and less alone. We also hope it’ll inspire people to talk to their own loved ones about the menopause – we all know someone going through it, yet we so rarely talk about it. It’s no wonder 1 in 3 feel alone during the menopause.”

Telling the truth without sugar-coating or catastrophising, the film shows the painfully relatable but rarely-seen-on-tv potential realities of the menopause, from rogue beard hairs and night sweats to hormonal rage, lube-fuelled intimacy, and bladder weakness. 

The short film is one of the only ads about bladder weakness to actually show urine on screen. It shows the challenges but also the triumphs of this life stage, combatting overwhelmingly negative stereotypes about the menopause that feed the fear of ageing.

AMV and TENA’s campaign highlights the value of intergenerational conversations in the hope that people will recognise the life stage as valid, interesting, and valuable to discuss. Central to the campaign is a desire to build support and solidarity between menopausal women and those around them. The film ends on an uplifting note, with the daughter asking her mother what the menopause is like. The hope is that viewers will take a moment to stop and ask the women in their lives a similar question, thereby encouraging the passing of knowledge and wisdom so that we all feel better prepared for what’s to come.

Credits

Client: Essity
Brand: TENA Women
Campaign title: #LastLonelyMenopause
Client name: Meta Redstedt, Jason Kaplanis and Stefanie Steegs
Creative Agency: AMV BBDO
CCO: Nicholas Hulley and Nadja Lossgott
Creative Director: Jim Hilson
Creative Team: Lauren Peters and Augustine Cerf
Designer: Vanessa Fowler Kendall
Agency Planning Team: Margaux Revol and Bea Farmelo
Agency Account Team: Laura Hazell and Rebecca Thomas
Creative Production Partner: Trish Russell
Senior Art Producer: Rhiannon Nicol
Senior Interactive Social Producer: Alex Warren
Business Affairs: Michelle Holmes
Production Company: Lief
Director: Shannon Murphy
Production Co. Producer: Margo Mars and Ella Sanderson
Editing Company: Final Cut
Editor: Amanda James and Lucy Berry
Post-Production Company: Daydreamer
Flame: Pete Rypstra and Milo Paterson
VFX Producer: Cat Hammond
Colour: Company 3
Colourist: Yoomin Lee
Sound studio: Wave Studios
Sound Engineer: Parv Thind and Ben Gulvin
Music: “September Fields” Composer/Performer Frazey Ford
Media Agency: Zenith
PR agency: Ketchum PR