Facebook ‘bans’ awareness posts from women’s hygiene company for using terms period and vulva
Facebook bans feminine hygiene company awareness posts for using terms period, vulva and clitoris for ‘being too sexual’
- EXCLUSIVE: The campaign was forced to remove the ads for ‘being too sexual’
- Facebook said their ad campaign was ‘aimed at people 18 and older’
Facebook has ‘banned’ a feminine hygiene company from using the words period, vulva and clitoris as part of an anti-stigma campaign.
Bodyform, one of the UK’s leading sanitary napkin manufacturers, posted a video to the social media platform last week questioning the public about the meaning of terms related to women’s health.
But Facebook said ads on its site shouldn’t promote “sexual and reproductive health products or services.” Bodyform said this was tantamount to being told the ad is “too sexual.”
Facebook said Bodyform’s ad campaign, which featured words related to women’s health that are usually censored online, was “aimed at people 18 and older.”
Twitter also banned the content, but it was successfully posted to both TikTok and YouTube.
Bodyform – one of the UK’s leading period branded products – posted a video to the social media platform last week questioning the public about the meaning of terms related to women’s health
Bodyform attempted to post the 98-second clip to Facebook last week, with a post containing the words “vagina” and “clitoris.”
It showed a woman testing the audience’s knowledge of words such as vagina, vulva, and menstrual pain.
The campaign aimed to “reclaim censored words” to normalize language around women’s health.
Research conducted by Bodyform found that more than half of British women are uncomfortable saying these words to their doctor, and eight in 10 feel uncomfortable using terms related to their health on social media .
But 30 minutes after attempting to upload the video, both Facebook and Twitter had rejected it.
Facebook said that if Bodyform’s ads again violate their advertising standards, it could result in their account being disabled or restricted.
An automated notification sent to Bodyform said: ‘Ads must not promote the sale or use of adult products or services.
“Ads promoting sexual and reproductive health products or services, such as birth control and family planning, should be directed to people 18 and older and should not be aimed at sexual pleasure.”
Half an hour after posting the video, it was removed by Facebook for violating their advertising policies
The feminine hygiene company instead had to upload their video to YouTube and link it in a post. The post couldn’t contain words like “vagina,” so Bodyform had to get creative
However, Bodyform successfully uploaded it after a second attempt and spelled the words in the caption with symbols so that they read ‘V@g!na’, ‘Vul/a’ and ‘Cl!t0r!s’.
Twitter also removed the post for no reason.
Bodyform has reached out to the social media platform to ask why.
However, TikTok featured the company’s video and has since been viewed more than 340,000 times. It’s also on YouTube, where it’s been viewed about 1,000 times.
A spokesperson for Bodyform manufacturer Essity said language around women’s health and the body “should not be censored.”
They added: “It makes important topics that some already feel taboo about almost impossible to talk about.
“People are a natural part of everyday life for women of all ages. Anatomically or medically correct words should not be censored and certainly should not be labeled as an adult product or service by social media platforms.”
MailOnline has approached Facebook, Meta and Twitter for a response.
Bodyform’s campaigns have sparked controversy before. It’s 2022 TV ad featuring a bloody sanitary napkin was the most complained ad of 2022, according to The Advertising Standards Authority.