PERIOD Along with BBDO San Francisco and Seventh Generation Present Celebrity PSA 'SEE RED'

PORTLAND, Ore. and NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As PERIOD gears up for the first-ever National Period Day on October 19th, the organization shared a new public service announcement on its social channels this morning. Created by BBDO San Francisco and sponsored by Seventh Generation, this PSA highlights the glaring insight that if faces were bleeding, someone would do something.

Featuring Stephanie Shepherd, Madame Gandhi, Krewella and more. What starts as a familiar PSA with people speaking passionately to the camera soon takes a sobering turn when these familiar faces start bleeding. It was created with the appreciation that, as humans, we are hard-wired to respond dramatically to blood. But when that blood is hidden, it's too easy to ignore. Not having tampons and pads means not being able to go to school or work. A menstruator's time of the month should not mean time away from the education or wages they need.

"Society might be getting ever-so-slightly more comfortable acknowledging that periods exist, but until we're ok with women free-bleeding in the streets, we better work harder to make pads and tampons accessible to all," said Kate Catalinac, Creative Director at BBDO San Francisco.

PSA sponsor Seventh Generation has long worked towards period equity, including ingredient disclosure and access to safe period care products. Across the brand's full portfolio of period care products, including pads and tampons, 43 cents per package - representative of the average cost of the tampon tax in the United States, is donated to organizations working to reverse period inequity such as PERIOD.

"Access to safe period care products is absolutely a human essential," said Ashley Orgain, Global Director of Advocacy and Sustainability at Seventh Generation. "At Seventh Generation we're on a mission to help reverse period inequity and we're proud to be working with PERIOD and raising awareness to do so."

Youth activists are gearing up to rally nationwide on October 19, 2019 for National Period Day. The rallies will mark a single day of organized effort across all 50 states to raise awareness around the issue of period poverty, demanding accessibility to period products and calling for an end to luxury taxes on menstrual products. Currently, 35 states in the US still have a sales tax on period products considering them luxury items, while products for men's sexual health such as Viagra are considered essential goods.

The average woman will spend an average of $11,000 in their lifetime on tampons, and one in four women struggled to afford period products in the last year, due to a lack of income. The most recent city-based study on period poverty in St. Louis revealed that "46 percent of low-income women had to choose between food and menstrual hygiene products." PERIOD along with BBDO San Francisco and Seventh Generation are working to raise awareness on just this issue with their 'SEE RED' PSA.

"It's really phenomenal to work with such incredible partners like Seventh Generation and BBDO San Francisco to advance this Menstrual Movement. Five years ago, when I started this organization at the age of 16, I would have never dreamed of mobilizing a campaign like this, with activists in all 50 US states -- but I am feeling more fired-up than ever before, and ready for our first-ever National Period Day! 2020 is going to be big!" said Nadya Okamoto, Founder and Executive Director at PERIOD.

PERIOD's expansive network of youth-run chapters will be organizing rallies in all 50 states. To find the nearest rally visit: http://www.nationalperiodday.com

About PERIOD
Nadya Okamoto started PERIOD when she was 16 years old and living in Portland. Currently a junior at Harvard, Nadya recently published her debut book, Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement with publisher Simon & Schuster.

Founded in 2014, PERIOD is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. PERIOD's mission is to eliminate period poverty and stigma through advocacy, education, and service. With the support of generous partners, sponsors, and individuals PERIOD delivers menstrual products and PERIOD packs to those in need. Through thoughtful education geared to destigmatize the way periods are thought and talked about, the organization is elevating the issue to eliminate the taboo through a growing network of high school, college, and community chapters.

ABOUT BBDO
BBDO's mantra is "The Work. The Work. The Work." Every day, BBDO people in 289 offices in 81 countries work day by day, job by job and client by client to create and deliver the world's most compelling commercial content. For 13 years in a row, BBDO has been ranked the most creative agency network in the world and for seven years, BBDO has been named Network of the Year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity – more than any other agency network. This past year, the independent World Advertising Research Center (WARC) named BBDO the "Best of the Best" in its first-ever index of excellence, aggregating results from its Creative 100, Effective 100 and Media 100 rankings. BBDO has been chosen Agency of the Year multiple times by the leading industry trade publications, including being named one of the world's top ten most innovative companies in advertising for the past two years.

BBDO is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.

About Seventh Generation
For nearly 30 years, it's been Seventh Generation's mission to help you protect your world with our environmentally conscious and effective household products. Our products are solutions for the air, surfaces, fabrics, pets and people within your home -- and for the community and environment outside of it. Seventh Generation offers a full line of laundry, dish and household cleaners, baby products including Free & Clear diapers, training pants and baby wipes, plus recycled paper products and recycled plastic trash bags, and feminine care products including Organic certified tampons. The company derives its name from the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy that states, "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." For information on Seventh Generation cleaning, paper, baby and feminine personal care products, to find store locations, and explore the company's website visit www.seventhgeneration.com. To read more about Seventh Generation's corporate responsibility, visit the Corporate Consciousness Report at: www.7genreport.com.

SOURCE PERIOD