Health messaging in menstrual product marketing on social media: neoliberalism and normalisation

Menstrual product advertisements have undergone shifts in discourse over recent decades, from messages surrounding hygiene towards those of liberation, but discretion narratives have remained. Social media marketing is prominent for menstrual product companies, and much menstrual advocacy is also on social media. This paper explores health messaging, a neglected area, in menstrual product advertising on social media. Multi-modal critical discourse analysis on 480 unique Instagram and TikTok menstrual product advertisements, collected by five researchers over 1 month. There are tensions in menstrual brand marketing incorporating health messaging around which that we have characterised as: normal or not, challenging or maintaining stereotypes, breaking taboos—or reinforcing them, combatting shame or perpetuating social norms, activism or neoliberal co-option. These are explored through the lenses of bio-medicalisation and doctorability. Marketing strategies co-opt language from advocacy and health messaging. It remains uncertain whether and how marketing campaigns on experiences of menstruation and conceptualisations of menstruation affect healthcare-related decision making. Our analysis demonstrates how inconsistent messaging may exacerbate shame, reinforce menstrual inequities and expand the corporate role in women's health and illness.