To activate around ANNOVERA'S 2021 goal to elevate conversations around sexual empowerment, we put out a piece of content with a bold call to action that perhaps no brand in the history of advertising (let alone the birth control category) has utilized before: PLEASE COME (on Vagina Appreciation Day, have an orgasm). How’s that for branded entertainment?

From a young age, men are taught about their erections and ejaculations while female reproductive education focuses mostly on periods and pregnancy prevention. This gap

That has an effect on behavior the real world—with only 65% of heterosexual women reporting regular orgasms during sexual intimacy compared to 95% of men. From our personal lives to pop culture to porn, pleasure gaps in the sexual experience parallel gaps in reproductive healthcare coverage and options.

As the unapologetic brand of birth control that talks openly and honestly about sex, reproductive health and our bodies, ANNOVERA was willing to encourage behavior that unapologetically celebrated the female orgasm.

Realizing that it’s 2021 and talk is cheap, we wanted women to engage with us in a real way that’s about acting and living unapologetically in the name of sexual empowerment and self discovery.

On April 23rd, Vagina Appreciation Day (yes, it’s a real holiday) we partnered with unapologetic comedian (and ANNOVERA'S most famous user) Whitney Cummings to put out a bold call to action: PLEASE COME (celebrate Vagina Appreciation Day with an orgasm). Seriously (watch the video). We said to carve out some time to celebrate with yourself, or with whoever or whatever floats your boat. And we didn’t just encourage women to put pleasure at the forefront of their Friday, we wanted them to tell us about it. So for every like, comment, share, or sticker, we pledged $1 to women’s organizations. Whether a big orgasm or a few little orgasms, every little bit of pleasure together turned one day into a celebration of sexual empowerment and directly challenged brands who naively focus just on pregnancy prevention.

ANNOVERA wants to fight the stigma around women’s reproductive health and the way we talk about our bodies. One of the most stigmatized things in the world is a vagina. We say penis but not vagina on TV, even sex ed teachers won’t even say the word. 44% of women and 50% of men cannot correctly identify a vagina on a diagram! This has real-life consequences, with women left feeling ashamed of their own bodies, and their pleasure relegated to an afterthought. Utilizing Whitney Cummings to amplify ANNOVERA'S bold approach to talking about our bodies and reproductive health in the press and on social media, we targeted sex-having, forward-thinking women with a bold message of sexual empowerment and self discovery. Where other brands stick to pregnancy prevention, we wanted to create buzz around pleasure, because news flash: that’s mostly why people have sex in the first place.

The week prior to Vagina Appreciation Day, we put out educational content where unapologetic comedian (and ANNOVERA'S most famous user) Whitney Cummings dispels myths surrounding the female orgasm and how women experience pleasure. Industry trade press helped elevate Vagina Appreciation Day as a holiday that deserves our attention, and the bold launch video confirms why: Whitney lands on a staircase next to a giant neon sign that says “PLEASE COME.” In media appearances and an intimate day-of selfie video, Whitney confirmed her participation and asked her followers to do the same, to get out of work or social engagements and get into themselves. With likes, comments, shares and stickers, we gave women an array of ways to confirm they celebrated a day of pleasure in a direct challenge to the category and the outdated role of pleasure in sexual health and society.

Trade press firmly planted Vagina Appreciation Day on the cultural calendar, and earned media pushed an unapologetic conversation about sexual health & female pleasure into the mainstream—garnering 71.8 million impressions and 1.9 million organic engagements among our audience, resulting in a 50% increase in web traffic and 380% increase in organic search visibility for our brand. But what we really wanted was orgasms, and we got them in the form of 12,100 engagements actions on social media letting us know they celebrated Vagina Appreciation day though likes, comments and shares from women everywhere (plus a bunch of female celebrities), which in turn raised $12,100 in brand donations for women’s sexual health and education initiatives. Never has doing good felt so good.

Pharma work in the United States is subject to legal review boards. In addition, and not surprisingly, most social media platforms are uncomfortable with content that talks openly about sex and female pleasure. Unfortunately, these cultural and logistical hurdles keep messages of sexual empowerment away from the mainstream.

We targeted sex-having, forward-thinking women on Vagina Appreciation Day with a message of sexual empowerment specifically to tackle gender inequity in conversations about female pleasure, who are otherwise patronized by reproductive healthcare marketing.