• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 19, 2023

She may be dressed like jolly old St. Nick, but this Santa alter-ego is in no mood for laughs. In a public-service awareness campaign for Period.org, she’s raising awareness -- and funds -- for the one in three menstruators in the U.S. and Canada who struggle to afford period products.

And she’s not exactly minding her manners, proclaiming herself “mother bitchmas, the coochie clause, Santa-Panty, the period Santa." She’s a holiday demon, fashioned after Krampus -- er, make that Crampus.

When Public, the agency that created the effort, came up with the concept, “they worried it might be too edgy,” says Michela Bedard, executive director of Period., a global nonprofit organization focused on ending period poverty.

“We were like, 'Nope, that’s totally us. If people can't laugh when they talk about periods, then we'll never solve the problem. We love that the video is hilarious and does a lot to de-stigmatize periods."

The jumping-off point for the year-end fundraising effort is fresh data, with research conducted by YouGov finding that 31% of menstruators in the U.S. and Canada have either struggled to afford menstrual products or have a family member who has. And 47% say they’ve stressed about their ability to buy them, with 50% saying they’ve changed purchasing decisions due to rising costs.

When people can’t access these products, they miss school and work, putting physical and mental health at risk. All that simply “sucks ovaries,” says Crampus.

The campaign is called #DeckTheStalls and aims to further the nonprofit’s work worldwide.

Bedard especially loved using Crampus, based on the folklore creature sent to terrify children during the holiday season. “We’d always made Krampus jokes in the office, and when Public suggested that character as the basis for the spot, with the demon breaking the fourth wall, we loved it,” she tells Marketing Daily.

The video accomplishes the primary mission, explaining that the problem of period poverty is entirely solvable.

The PG13-level humor also pays off in breaking through the year-end onslaught of public service campaigns for worthy organizations. “Being funny lets us turn the problem on its head and makes it clear that the menstrual equity movement is welcoming. And we don’t have to be doom-and-gloom because we can solve this problem,” adds Bedard.

She says the campaign is running on social media, supported by paid placements that have been donated. TikTok, for example, has donated boosted ads, and the organization has also received out-of-home donations.

The campaign is also gaining firepower from brands. “They’ve come out of the woodwork in support of this campaign, donating hundreds of thousands of products,” says Bedard.

Much of Period.’s work is in schools. “We’ve got 350 chapters of people who do period poverty work in communities, and most are run by young people.”

The goal is to double last year’s fundraising, and the group is already about halfway there.