Tena challenges ageism with ‘game-changing’ menopause advert on Channel 4

A menopause advert that challenges ageism in advertising breaking the “silence and stigma” around the subject will make its debut after winning £1 million of free airtime on Channel 4.

The Tena campaign is the recipient of the broadcaster’s Diversity In Advertising Award, a commitment to help improve diversity in advertising.

This year, brands and agencies were asked to come up with ideas that confront ageism in adverts.

The Tena commercial, which tackles the realities of the menopause rarely-seen on TV, will air for the first time on Channel 4 on Friday from 8.10pm.

The film follows a daughter and her mother who is navigating the menopause, from rogue beard hairs and night sweats to hormonal rage and bladder weakness, it tells the story of a second coming-of-age.

The Last Lonely Menopause campaign, imagined by creative agency AMV BBDO, fended off competition from five shortlisted brands including Baileys and Boots – who will all receive £250,000 match funding to encourage the campaigns into production.

Veriça Djurdjevic, chief revenue officer at Channel 4, said: “AMV’s ad for Tena is a game-changing take on the narrative around the menopause.

“It perfectly fulfilled our award brief to tackle ageism in advertising, using the central idea of talking about the menopause as a way of breaking the stigma and silence that exists around it despite the fact half the population will experience it.”

For the first time this year, Channel 4 has also extended its award with £100,000 digital short form series showing older and younger people talking about the menopause – which will launch on May 9.

Lauren Peters and Augustine Cerf, creatives at AMV BBDO, said: “People going through the menopause also deserve their emotionally nuanced coming of age stories of rage, confusion, liberation and becoming.

“We also hope it’ll inspire people to talk to their own loved ones about the menopause – we all know someone going through it, yet we so rarely talk about it. It’s no wonder 1 in 3 feel alone during the menopause.”

The advert will first air on Channel 4 on Friday at 8.10pm.