SIDEbar
Posts
Olympics promo puts a period on stigma

Olympics promo puts a period on stigma

Knix pays athletes to publicize personal messages

Gail Sideman
July 25, 2024

Like athletes, smart Olympics advertisers plan their strategies months in advance. Marketers and publicists then grab the baton to lead fans into athletes’ storied worlds.

With women’s sports soaring worldwide, expect a strong contingent of female-focused advertisers to hit your screens during the Olympic Games in Paris. Among them is Knix, an apparel company that wants to nix a periodic issue that sidelines athletes.

Knix’s “Sport Your Period” campaign encourages women and girls to play while on their periods.

Apologies if this makes you uncomfortable. Well, not sorry. That’s the goal. Knix wants to erase stigmas that make girls feel ashamed or limited by their biology despite a society that talks more openly about sex and gender differences than past generations.

Why this matters

According to a 2022 global report by PUMA and Modibodi®, 1 in 2 girls quit sports because of their periods. That means half of all girls forego sports’ irreplaceable physical and psychological benefits because biology is a bitc… --makes life tough for some. Knix’s Olympics spokesperson, Megan Rapinoe, a two-time World Cup champion and gold medalist, gives women the green light to diss that inhibition.

Megan Rapinoe speaks for Knix.

Based in Canada, Knix says it will pay athletes who share that they’re on their periods when they play. They don’t have to go into detail, just mention it.

Why the Campaign Works

Knix works to banish physical and psychological boundaries for girls and women in sports.
Soccer superstar Rapinoe addresses athletes’ worries about playing during their periods and gives others permission to do the same.
Knix provides solutions so athletes can play with power and passion without worrying about bleeding through their clothes.
The campaign incentivizes athletes to mention their periods via any media (social, third-party) by paying them up to $1,000.

Go for the Gold

The most effective promotions follow a simple but not often followed formula: create conversations before an event, add punch during, and perpetually relaunch and add buzz afterward. Evocative execution and publicity surrounding “Sport Your Period” means its messages may have the moxie to carry long after the Games.

Your campaign could do the same. No period necessary.

###