PETALING JAYA, Sept 30 — Pantone has added a bold red hue inspired by period blood to its swatch book as part of a new campaign to end menstruation stigma.
The colour matching company partnered with Swedish intimate healthcare brand Intimina to release the custom colour “Period” under the Seen + Heard campaign, which aims to spark conversations about periods and dissolve feelings of shame surrounding the topic.
Pantone Colour Institute’s vice president Laurie Pressman described the shade as an “active and adventurous red hue” that she hopes will instil feelings of pride in people who menstruate.
“We were very honoured to partner with Intimina on the creation of Period, a confident red shade symbolic of the empowering message expressed in their new Seen + Heard campaign.
“(We hope) to urge everyone regardless of gender to feel comfortable to talk spontaneously and openly about this pure and natural bodily function,” Pressman said in a press release.
Intimina’s global brand manager Danela Zagar added that it is time to stop treating periods as taboo topics or fodder for tasteless jokes.
She also hopes that the colour can help normalise conversations about periods in everyday life.
“Despite the fact that billions of people experience menstruation, it has historically been treated as something that shouldn’t be seen or talked about publicly.
“And if we look at popular culture, depictions of periods have ranged from wildly inaccurate and unsympathetic to being the subject of jokes and derision.
“Enough is enough, it’s 2020. Isn’t it time periods stop being considered as a private affair or a negative experience?
“Pantone’s Period red shade represents exactly what our Seen+Heard campaign is about: making periods visible, encouraging positive conversations, and normalising menstruation in our culture, our society and in our everyday lives,” said Zagar.
Pantone is known for having the biggest colour matching system in the world and wields huge influence over the global design industry.
The company regularly announces a “colour of the year” to reflect the ongoing sociopolitical climate, with 2020’s hue being a “Classic Blue.”
