Stayfree uses branded content to normalise periods this Daughters Day

New Delhi: Stayfree has released its latest branded content activation, ‘From Rejections to Conversations’, marking Daughters Day with a powerful reminder of why normalising period talk remains urgent in India.

The campaign, conceptualised by DDB Mudra, builds on last year’s #BetaStayfreeLeAana initiative, which faced an unusual barrier: 70% of parents refused to let their sons be cast in the film. Reasons ranged from social discomfort to fear of ridicule, underscoring the deep-rooted stigma surrounding menstrual conversations.

Watch the film here:

Instead of seeing these rejections as setbacks, Stayfree and DDB Mudra transformed them into the creative core of the new campaign. The digital film captures candid discussions between content creator Linda Fernandes, a mother of a teenage son, and parents who had earlier declined participation. It traces their hesitation, social pressures, and gradual shifts in perspective—ending with the message: “When we make our sons comfortable with periods, we make our daughters comfortable too.”

Stayfree’s latest campaign is part of its long-running ‘It’s Just a Period’ platform, which has consistently used branded content to spark family-centric conversations. Over the years, the brand has:

• Encouraged fathers to openly discuss periods with their daughters.

• Urged parents to educate sons with the simple reminder that “It’s just a period.”

• Taken a bold step with #BetaStayfreeLeAana, encouraging boys to normalise buying sanitary napkins.
  
  

This layered approach positions Stayfree as a brand using content not just for awareness, but to create real-life cultural shifts.

Manoj Gadgil, Vice President – Marketing & Business Unit Head, Essential Health, Kenvue, said, “For the last five years, Stayfree has been committed to normalising period conversations so that no girl feels shame, fear, or discomfort. The rejection we saw last year only reinforced why we need to keep pushing. When we went back to these parents, the change we saw inspired this film. This is more than a campaign—the change is real.”

Harshada Menon & Siddhesh Khatavkar, Executive Creative Directors, DDB Mudra, added, “Parents were happy to see their sons in ads for chocolates or clothes—but not sanitary napkins. That contradiction became our insight. By revisiting those very rejections, we could ask: shouldn’t we be okay with boys in a period ad too?”

The digital campaign is now live across YouTube and Meta, continuing Stayfree’s strategy of using content-driven social experiments to spark conversations, reduce stigma, and drive cultural acceptance.