Social-impact agency Public Inc. and Great Guns director Eva Midgley have teamed up with non-profit PERIOD. to #DeckTheStalls with a holiday campaign fighting period poverty.
Crampus–a.k.a. Mother Bitchmas, Coochie Claus, or Santy Panty, a fabulous hell demon complete with bedazzled horns and a red satin power suit–takes center stage in this spot. While devouring tampon cookies and making it rain maxi pads, she delivers hard truths with sass in a menstruation monologue raising awareness for those without access to proper sanitary care.
A wild and raw script communicates the campaign’s serious message couched in humor. Director Midgley complements its written elements with physical comedy, leveraging it as a tool for keeping the viewer engaged and preventing the campaign from becoming preachy. In the lead up to the most important lines, the voiceover runs across shots of heightened physical comedy with unpredictable pacing to keep the audience on their toes, as a mercurial Crampus jolts between soft and loud, petty and outraged, vain and serious.
This volatile role is played by actress Rachel Sellan, who worked closely with Midgley to flesh out the character of Crampus.
Midgley said, “I howled with laughter when I first read the script. Not because of the content obviously, but the way it was written – Crampus was described as being on her period 365 days a year, with a day off on a leap year. What a brilliant creative from Erin Stevens and Heather Apple at Public Inc. Our amazing producer Marc Milliard and I have collaborated in the past and he can pull rabbits out of a hat, and DOP Vinit Borrison did an amazing job too, as always. Our Crampus, Rachel, was incredible, she really related to the character and cause and she worked incredibly hard.”
The campaign will run through to the end of the year, with all proceeds going to PERIOD.
