TENA Wants to Liberate the Narrative Around Menopause and Middle Age

We've made it our mission to fight the ageism faced by women," says Essity's global brand and communications director Meta Redstedt.

From rogue beard hairs and night sweats to hormonal rage, lube-fueled intimacy and bladder weakness; the menopause throws up a host of challenges for women. Though despite its impact on half the population it’s still a taboo topic. Enter, incontinence brand TENA, which has been rewriting the narrative through its marketing.

The business, owned by Swedish personal care group Essity has just unveiled “The Last Lonely Menopause,” a campaign crafted with longtime agency AMV BBDO. It’s part of an ongoing strategy to tackle the “toxic” stereotyping women face as they get older, said Essity’s global brand and communications director Meta Redstedt.

“We’ve made it our mission to fight the ageism faced by women because it fits so well with our brands and we’ve realized we can make a difference for women,” she explained.

At its heart of the new push is a two-minute ad, which debuted on April 29 on the U.K. TV broadcaster Channel 4, which tells the story of a daughter and her mother who is navigating the menopause. The spot leans into the idea that the life stage 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 tropes, the film extends the beauty and cultural clout of the genre to shine a spotlight on the oft ignored realities of the menopause or the “second coming of age.”

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

It was conceived after TENA won the broadcaster’s Diversity in Advertising Award, which asked businesses to tackle ageism on-screen. The brief was based on its Channel 4’s insight that people over 50 feel misrepresented by advertisers, with 72% saying depictions of people their age in the media were outdated stereotypes. The aim of “The Last Lonely Menopause,” which was directed by Shannon Murphy and produced by Lief, is to drive intergenerational discussion about the subject. This could be between moms and daughters, sons and mothers, aunts and nieces, friends and more.

“We really want to drive these conversations. The menopause happens at work, in your relationship, when you walk down the street, when you meet friends”, Redstedt said.