TBWA\MCR has produced a film to tackle the misunderstandings around endometriosis.
The pro-bono campaign for Menstrual Health Project, in partnership with Packer Productions, was developed and filmed in less than 2 weeks.
It will be accompanied by a toolkit to inspire people donate money to the charity.
Intentionally released in time for Halloween, it uses the image of flesh being torn from the inside of a pumpkin to represent the internal tearing and debilitating pain sufferers endure.
Called ‘That Time of the Month’ it’s purposefully misleading, highlighting how endometriosis sufferers experience this pain every single day.
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It was created with a 70% female crew, with the aim to break the silence around symptoms that often go unspoken.
“1.5 million women are living with endometriosis, yet many wait up to eight years for a diagnosis. Girls as young as nine are often misdiagnosed and wrongly prescribed the pill. That isn’t good enough. Halloween felt like the most impactful and disruptive time to raise awareness of the symptoms that can be so difficult to describe,” said Becci Nadin, Deputy Creative Director at TBWA\MCR.
“An eternal thanks to Packer Productions for making this possible, with a 70% female crew in tow. The founders of the charity were a genuine inspiration and it’s a total honour to create this work together. We hope this helps in the mission to change the course of female health for good and help sufferers for whom ‘that time of the month’ is every single day of the year.”
Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the womb lining spreads elsewhere in the body, affecting organs such as the bladder, lungs and spine. With diagnosis times averaging up to eight years and no cure available, early recognition is critical to prevent long-term damage, hysterectomy or other major surgery.
“This Halloween we wanted to shine a light on something far more frightening than ghosts or ghouls – the silent spread of endometriosis. This condition can infiltrate organs throughout the body, causing immense pain and lifelong consequences if left undiagnosed and ignored,” added Anna Cooper and Gabriella Pearson, Co-founders of Menstrual Health Project.
“With TBWA\MCR we’ve created a film that makes people stop, listen and think about the severity of endometriosis and the urgent need for earlier intervention.”
Zeynep Oguz, Director at Packer Productions said:
“In a project like this every element has to stay true to the reality we are depicting. Knowing many sufferers, my aim was to make a film that they could point to and say, ‘this is how I feel, every single day.’
“When I told our DOP David Procter, ‘I want the space to feel like you’re stepping inside the body’, he immediately understood and brought this to life using some special vintage theatre projectors. The result was beyond my imagination.
“It’s still hard to believe we pulled all of this together in under two weeks…but when an idea feels this right, and for such an important cause, all the pieces fall perfectly into place.”
