U by Kotex - Normalize Period™.
Restoring truth, anatomy, and agency to a category shaped by silence.
RENERATIVE STRATEGY / CULTURAL CAMPAIGN & STORY DESIGN
A Category Built on Cultural Invisibility
Menstruation is one of the most universal biological experiences yet still one of the least spoken about. Nearly half of women never discuss their vaginal health, even with doctors. A quarter cannot identify their own anatomy.
For decades, femcare design mirrored this silence: flat pads for curved bodies, blue liquid instead of blood, euphemisms instead of accurate language. The taboo shaped the products, and the products reinforced the taboo.
Invisible cultural norms → invisible bodies → invisible needs.
This is the exact cycle Netra CRB exists to break.
I — INSIGHT
Designing From the Body, Not Around the Stigma
Kotex asked the most honest and culturally radical question the category had avoided:
“If vaginas are curvy, why are pads still flat?”
This question reframed menstrual care from a “hygiene problem” to a systemic design failure.
The issue wasn’t the consumer; it was the invisibility of her anatomy.
By naming the vagina, vulva, and labia directly, Kotex rejected the coded language that had kept women disconnected from their own bodies.
New Narrative:
Truthful anatomy → truthful language → truthful design → cultural confidence.
R — REFRAME
Normalize Period™:
A Regenerative Movement for Body Literacy
To shift behavior, confidence, and cultural norms, Kotex aligned innovation, language, and storytelling into one unified intervention:
1. Anatomical Innovation
Scanned 1,000+ vulvas and introduced the first-ever Curvy Pad, shaped to fit real bodies instead of outdated assumptions.
2. Language That Tells the Truth
Replaced euphemisms with medical accuracy (vagina, vulva, labia majora) restoring clarity where culture had taught silence.
3. Storytelling With Humor and Honesty
Called out artificial scents (“ocean breeze is for candles, not vaginas”), reframing shame as absurdity.
4. Cultural Activation at Scale
Expanded across TikTok’s #PeriodTok, CTV, influencers, in-store, and digital — moving the conversation into everyday culture.
This was regenerative brand behavior: Aligning product design, cultural visibility, and embodied truth to restore a relationship women were never allowed to fully have with their own bodies.
I — INTERVENE
Cultural Regeneration + Commercial Proof
2× Lift in Sales : Authentic design that respects anatomy ignited immediate consumer demand.
8× Lift in Cultural Impact: A surge in conversation volume, earned media, and social engagement shifted period talk into public, unfiltered spaces.
Category Reset: The Curvy Pad redefined what “innovation” means in femcare from secrecy to science, from shame to literacy.
Long-Term Change: U by Kotex didn’t simply challenge stigma; it corrected a cultural and design ecosystem that had excluded women’s real bodies for generations.
This is the work of regeneration: Restoring what culture made invisible and returning voice, truth, and agency to the women who were never the problem.
S — SUSTAIN