A powerful TV ad about the menopause that won Channel 4’s prestigious £1 million  Diversity in Advertising Award will launch on Channel 4 tonight (29.04.22) at 8.10pm. 

Creative agency AMV BBDO’s winning campaign for TENA will use the warm and honest relationship between a mother and her daughter to unflinchingly highlight some of the realities of the menopause in a way never seen before on British TV.

Channel 4’s annual Diversity in Advertising Award offers the winning campaign £1 million worth of commercial airtime across the entire portfolio of channels in Channel 4’s commercial arm 4Sales, including its streaming service All 4.

Now in its sixth year it was set up by the broadcaster to encourage the ad industry to embrace inclusive creative campaigns and extend Channel 4’s leadership in diversity beyond its editorial content and into the ad breaks.

Channel 4’s brief to the industry this year was for creative treatments that would challenge ageism in advertising. Research has shown that people over 50 feel vastly misrepresented in the majority of ads, with 72% of those questioned feeling that people their age in adverts were outdated stereotypes.

Directed by Shannon Murphy and produced by Lief, AMV BBDO’s ad for TENA tells the touching story of a mother and daughter as the mother navigates the menopause. The film leans into the idea that menopause is often spoken about as puberty in reverse – but where puberty gets its manifold tales of rage and becoming, the menopause is left behind. Drawing on coming of age filmic techniques and tropes, the film extends the beauty and cultural clout of the genre to shine a spotlight on the oft ignored realities of the menopause, to tell a new story, the second coming of age.

Veriça Djurdjevic, Chief Revenue Officer at Channel 4 said: “AMV’s ad for TENA is a game-changing take on the narrative around the menopause. It perfectly fulfilled our Award brief to tackle ageism in advertising, using the central idea of talking about the menopause as a way of breaking the stigma & silence that exists around it despite the fact half the population will experience it!

“Channel 4 exists to create change through entertainment, and we do this by representing unheard voices and challenging society. Through our annual Diversity in Advertising Award we’re committed to keep challenging the advertising industry to reflect all society authentically in their TV ads to ensure that the amazing diversity of the UK is reflected not just in  our programming but across our ad breaks too.”