For most girls, the first conversation about menstruation begins with their parents, who largely shape how they perceive this natural process. However, in Kazakhstan, many parents either avoid these conversations altogether or approach them through shame, fear, and silence. This barrier extends beyond the household. In many schools, parents actively oppose any educational initiatives on menstruation, often approaching school administrations to demand that such lectures be banned entirely. This leaves girls without a fallback source of information — even in an institutional setting designed to educate them. As a result, girls grow up surrounded by myths, anxiety, and embarrassment, with little access to open, understandable, and relatable information. For Kotex, this created the main communication barrier: the brand couldn’t start a conversation with the girls who needed it the most. It couldn’t break through the parental barrier, despite the fact that every girl has the right to receive accurate information about her body, health, puberty, and menstruation under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Articles 17, 24, 28 and 29)
Problem
Kotex needed to bypass the parental barrier and speak directly to teenage girls—without sounding educational or patronizing. Changing the way parents talked about menstruation wasn’t realistic. Changing the way girls experienced the conversation was. Anime became the natural language for that conversation. A genre built around growing up, confronting inner fears, accepting yourself, and turning vulnerability into strength. A hand-animated social media anime series transformed menstrual fears and insecurities into monsters and fantastical challenges the heroine could overcome. Popular teenage influencers appeared throughout the series, sharing their real stories about period pain, fear of visiting a gynecologist, and unrealistic expectations about menstruation—making every episode feel personal, authentic, and relatable rather than educational.
Solution
Six of the most relatable emotional insights surrounding menstruation became six anime episodes. Shame became a dark creature that grew stronger with silence. Puberty and a first period became the heroine’s dramatic transformation. PMS and hormonal mood swings became an evil doppelgänger. Fear of visiting a gynecologist became the final boss that could only be defeated by facing it. Every episode transformed a real emotional struggle into an anime battle, helping girls recognize, accept, and ultimately overcome their fears. To deliver the authentic anime aesthetic the audience values, traditional hand-drawn animation was deliberately chosen over AI-generated visuals, respecting the visual language of a genre teenage girls genuinely trust.
Results
45+ million views 200 000+ reactions in social media 175 000 e-com visits after anime launch The campaign became one of Kotex Kazakhstan’s most successful campaigns of the last four years. It generated extensive reach, earned free media coverage across Kazakhstan and Russia, and created such strong engagement that it is now being adapted for the Russian and Uzbek markets.
