The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Unipads turned menstrual blood, blamed for ruining crops, into fertiliser
Lab tests showed menstrual blood is nutrient-rich; 115,000 farmers used it as fertiliser, growing 45+ crops across 155 villages.
Unipads
the move
In rural Gujarat, menstrual blood is treated as one of the most impure things around food — a single drop is believed able to destroy entire crops.
Unipads, a reusable sanitary pad brand, tested menstrual blood and found nutrients beneficial for crop growth, then asked women to dispose of used pads with blood into 'Ukeda' compost pits that farmers used on their fields.
The initiative ran across 155 villages, got about 115,000 farmers to agree to use blood fertiliser, produced over 320,000 tonnes of it, and grew 45+ varieties of produce — debunking the myth rather than just arguing against it.
why it works
- It converts a culture-wide taboo into a usable agricultural input, so the proof is physical.
- The compost pit doubles as an education site, drawing villagers into a discussion about menstruation.
- It gives rural farmers a cheap fertiliser and gives women a reason to be trusted around food.
- It takes a fear and makes it productive, so the brand owns the reversal.
what transfers
A feared taboo is testable: put the allegedly harmful thing in a lab, and if it is really a resource, the same taboo becomes the campaign.
what came after
The campaign produced measurable proof of the reversal: 155 villages took part, roughly 115,000 farmers agreed to use menstrual-blood fertiliser, about 320,000 tonnes were produced and 45+ crop varieties grew with it. It earned D&AD recognition and industry attention, and the learning that a 'pure' or 'impure' belief can be overturned by letting the substance demonstrate itself.
references
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