• by Les Luchter , April 14, 2026

From art galleries to bathroom stalls, Kotex has been busy on the creative front.

Last week, the Kimberly-Clark brand of sanitary pads launched “Art’s Missing Period,” from DAVID London and Ogilvy Singapore, which argues that menstrual blood in paintings and sculptures has been censored by museums and galleries around the world.

So Kotex has “restored” the missing art with a year-long virtual gallery displaying 40 pieces of period-themed art.

A campaign last week centered on New York in the form of a truck adorned with the words “Art’s missing period. The censored art of menstruation,” along with images from the virtual gallery and a QR code inviting viewers to visit it.

The vehicle traveled past such museums as the Guggenheim, MET, Whitney and MOMA, as well as other high-traffic Big Apple sites.

“Art’s Missing Period” also includes an eight-minute documentary, accessible through the virtual gallery and elsewhere online, in which journalist Noor Tagouri asks, “Why is it that the blood of violence and death is acceptable for us to witness, but the blood of life and creation is not?

In addition, the doc features some of the gallery artwork and provides a history of how art using period blood dates back to ancient times.

Kotex’s marketing had already taken a bloody turn this year with a red-drenched platform and campaign titled “Own Your Flow,” which this week launched new ads from GUT Miami titled “You Asked. We Heard.”

The creative – such as this :60 -- finds women in bathroom stalls expressing “small but powerful acts of solidarity…from passing a pad to offering reassurance or a knowing look.”

“These moments,” Kotex says, “highlight word-of-mouth as one of the most trusted forces in feminine care and underscore Kotex’s commitment to truly listening and responding.”

Word of mouth could also be said to have fueled the campaign itself, since Kotex says that the campaign’s creative has been fueled by “real consumer language” that “reflects rising expectations around honesty, performance, and cultural fluency.”

The above ad is also being released in other lengths, while additional spots focus on key features of various Kotex products. That portfolio was rebuilt in February, the brand says, “to address real frustrations and unmet needs, including pH balance, softness, and overnight leak protection,” again based on feedback from real women.

Other campaign creative includes rotating social media assets, both organic and paid, along with an influencer campaign.

Media being used in the campaign includes connected TV, online video and online audio, in addition to social.