Sydney: Australia’s advertising watchdog has dismissed hundreds of complaints against a television commercial depicting menstrual blood. The advertisement for sanitary pad brand Libra shows red liquid being poured onto a pad and blood running down the leg of a woman while she is showering.
The commercial began airing in August and has drawn more than 600 complaints, according to marketing industry news site Mumbrella. It attracted the largest number complaints for any television commercial in the country so far this year, but they were all dismissed by the regulator earlier this month.
Disgruntled viewers submitted a variety of concerns over the ad, including that it was “disgusting”, “offensive” and “distasteful”. It is part of Libra’s #bloodnormal campaign which seeks to break taboos associated with menstruation by showing real blood instead of blue liquid traditionally used in such commercials.
The campaign has been running since 2017 and is shown on television in many European countries where local regulators have dismissed similar complaints, Libra said in its response to the Australian submission.
Advertisement attracted the largest number of complaints for any television commercial in the country so far this year.
