“PERIODS ARE NORMAL. SHOWING THEM SHOULD BE TOO.” : - En receptionsstudie på Libresse reklamfilm ”Blood Normal”

Sammanfattning: Libresse campaign #Bloodnormal aims to raise awareness about periods as a taboo subject. Similar to how Libresse is trying to make a change, more and more companies are starting to create norm breaking content. The question is how the public see these commercials. Do they think it is a method to get more brand authenticity or do they think it will make a real change? This study aims to investigate how young, female students experiences and discuss Libresse commercial “Blood Normal”. It will mainly focus on menstrual norms and the brand Libresse. To examine this we have used a reception method with qualitative interviews. By showing the respondents the film “Blood Normal” and later asking them questions, the method made it possible for us to see how the students interpret the film, the menstrual norms and the brand. The theoretical framework for this study is based on taboos, myths, studies on media effects and encoding/decoding. These theories helped us distinguish how the female students interacted and related to “Blood Normal”. By adding theories about legitimacy and corporate social responsibility we furthered examined how Libresse communicates and creates a relationship with their audience to strengthen their brand. The analysis showed that the respondents experienced menstruation as socially unacceptable in certain situations. They explained that “Blood normal” showed scenes that both mirrored and differed from their own experience of menstruation. It was also clear that they found the norm breaking content positive, which for the majority led to a higher trust in the brand. An important question for the respondents was that Libresse stood up for women, which could show that Libresse have a good knowledge about their target group. The commercials biggest effect on the respondents was in the end a bigger discussion about menstrual taboos, which for the majority also contributed to a higher trust for the brand.