Hey Girls: Seeing Red by Adam&EveDDB

A psychological study is at the heart of a campaign by Hey Girls, the social enterprise founded by Celia Hodson to tackle period poverty. The idea, created by Adam&eveDDB, revolves around a film called ‘Seeing Red’ which has been carefully crafted to evoke anger that motivates positive action.

The proposed dictionary definition of period poverty, as shown in the film, is a lack of safe access to period products due to financial or social constraints.

Period poverty affects 1 in 10 in the UK and surged in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, a survey by the charity Plan International UK showed that as many as one third of 14 to 21-year-olds in the UK struggled to access or afford period products during lockdown.

The ‘Seeing Red’ film, produced by Prettybird and directed by Margot Bowman, depicts the anguish of a girl caught unprepared at school when her period starts, brought arrestingly – and graphically – to life.

In it, an array of techniques are used to evoke anger – all informed by psychological insight by Dr Philip Gable, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Delaware.

Conceived by adam&eveDDB, the idea came from the insight that despite its negative connotations, anger is one of the most motivating human emotions. The aim was to harness anger to encourage positive action – in this case, to remove the injustice of period poverty.