The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2020–2021
Bodyform's 'Womb Stories' gives the uterus its own animated worlds — Cannes Grands Prix
A three-minute film by AMV BBDO brings every unspoken womb experience — IVF, miscarriage, endometriosis, menopause — to life as its own animated 'wombworld'.
Bodyform (Essity) · Libresse (Essity) · AMV BBDO
What it had to solve
Bodyform had built its brand on truth-telling about periods with #BloodNormal and Viva La Vulva, but the deepest taboos — miscarriage, IVF, endometriosis, menopause — were still unspoken. The challenge was to go beyond normalising blood and represent the complex, contradictory relationship women have with their own bodies.
How it works
In July 2020, Bodyform and sister brand Libresse (both Essity) released #WombStories, a three-minute film created by AMV BBDO that goes inside the womb to show the unseen, unheard experiences of living with one: the struggle of IVF, the devastation of miscarriage, the choice to stay child-free, menopause, the overwhelming pain of endometriosis, sexual pleasure and the mundane frustrations of menstruation.
The idea grew out of 'creative listening'. Instead of assuming what women felt, AMV BBDO ran open-ended, projective research across more than a dozen markets, asking women what their womb would be like if it were a person, a place or a landscape. Those answers became 'wombworlds' and 'wombdwellers' — fertility as a lovingly tended garden and a barren wilderness, menopause as angry red flames — all housed in a cosmic uterus universe, directed by Nisha Ganatra with world-class female animators.
The film ran on TV, YouTube and social, and its results were explosive: 100 million views, launch in 26 markets, sharing across 132 countries and 1.5 billion reach in the UK, where Bodyform also took the number one share of social voice and saw a 200% jump in social followers. At Cannes Lions 2021, #WombStories won the Film Grand Prix and the follow-up #WombPainStories won the Titanium Grand Prix; Bodyform was named Creative Brand of the Festival.
Why it lands
- It inverted the research order: the campaign began by asking women to describe their own bodies metaphorically, so the creative was built from lived experience rather than category convention.
- It went deeper than the trend it had started — after normalising period blood, it took on the taboos nobody else would touch, making a challenger brand culturally essential.
- Animation gave unbearable experiences (miscarriage, endometriosis pain) a beautiful, shareable form, so difficult truths could be watched and passed on instead of avoided.
- It turned the audience into contributors: millions shared their own womb stories, and the brand fed those stories back into more creative, fuelling a virtuous circle of listening and sharing.
What it did
The film drew 100 million views, launched in 26 markets, was shared in 132 countries and reached 1.5 billion people in the UK, with market share up 8.1% in the UK, 14.1% in Russia and 9.9% in Denmark. At Cannes 2021 it won the Film Grand Prix and the Titanium Grand Prix, and Bodyform was named Creative Brand of the Festival.
What you can take
When a topic is too taboo to advertise, start with listening: projective research yields metaphors no agency would invent — then make those metaphors the creative itself.
Since then
The campaign grew into 'Pain Stories' in 2021 — a Pain Museum, a Pain Dictionary and a pain report confronting the gender pain gap and endometriosis' 7.5-year average diagnosis delay. #WombPainStories added more Cannes honours, including the Titanium Grand Prix and a Grand Prix in Health & Wellness, and won a D&AD Black Pencil for art direction; AMV BBDO was named Agency of the Festival at Cannes 2020/21.
Sources
- AMVBBDO — Essity '#wombstories' (Caples winners case study)
- How Bodyform used research to tell women's stories
- Cannes Lions announces final winners of the week: Film Lions, Titanium Lions, Glass: The Lion for Change and Sustainable Development Goals Lions
- Cannes Lions: Titanium Winners 2021 — Bodyform's Womb Pain Stories wins Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes
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