Seeing Red: Harnessing anger to end period poverty

Anger is often seen as a 'negative' emotion but it's a galvanising emotion and as such, can be channelled into positive action. What do you think of this campaign about period poverty in the UK? According to Hey Girls, the social enterprise behind it, "period poverty affects 1 in 10 in the UK and surged in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. A survey by the charity Plan International UK showed that as many as one third of 14 to 21s in the UK struggled to access or afford period products during lockdown." The campaign's been designed to make us, the viewers, angry: Psychological insights guided bya university professor, a specially created soundtrack, the pace and use of colour are among the elements specifically devised to evoke anger and motivate action. And viewers are offered the chance to act on their anger in a beneficial way as Hey Girls explains that for every period product purchase, they will donate one to those in need. Does the footage make you angry in this way? Or angry at the fact that this situation exists in a wealthy nation where such products should be freely available, responsibly produced, and sustainably packaged? Both, perhaps.

Keywords: Hey Girls Seeing Red, period poverty UK, menstruation, period products, adam&eveDDB