The Tampon Book

Client: Scholz & Friends, 2019




I was commissioned by Scholz & Friends as illustrator of The Tampon Book, a campaign for The Female Company which aims to end the ridiculous ‘luxury’ tax on tampons by outsmarting the law - selling tampons hidden inside a book.




The Tampon Book is much more than a smart packaging that hacked the German tax system. Stylishly illustrated by artist Ana Curbelo, The Tampon Book contains 45 pages with bold, uncompromising illustrations, unashamed of periods,and empowering stories about menstruation, taboo and feminism.

It promotes a petition by Nanna-Josephine Roloff & Yasemin Kotra which urges the German parliament to discuss the abolition of the tampon tax. The campaign sparked public debate worldwide, and on November 7, 2019, Germany abolished the tampon tax.
THE LAW CHANGED

CANNES LIONS 2019
GRAND PRIX WINNER, 2 SILVER, 2 BRONZE, 8 SHORTLIST

CLIO AWARDS 2019
5 GOLD, 3 SILVER

LIA AWARDS 2019
1 GOLD, 2 SILVER, 1 BRONZE, 1 FINALIST

EFFIE AWARDS GERMANY 2019
1 SILVER
EPICA AWARDS 2019
GRAND PRIX WINNER, 3 GOLD, 1 SILVER

EUROBEST AWARDS 2019
2 GRAND PRIX WINNER, 4 GOLD, 2 SILVER, 1 BRONZE, 3 SHORTLIST

NEW YORK FESTIVALS ADVERTISING AWARDS 2020
1 GRAND PRIX WINNER, 10 GOLD, 2 SILVER, 6 BRONZE

THE ART DIRECTORS CLUB 2020
1 GRAND PRIX WINNER, 6 GOLD, 6 SILVER, 4 BRONZE
THE WEBBY AWARDS 2020
2 WINS

ADC GLOBAL 2020
2 BEST OF DISCIPLINE, 3 GOLD

D&AD 2020
WHITE IMPACT PENCIL, 3 YELLOW PENCILS, 1 GRAPHITE, 1 WOOD

THE ONE SHOW 2020
1 CULTURAL DRIVER AWARD, 3 BEST IN DISCIPLINE, 11 GOLD, 2 BRONZE



#1 most awarded advertising capaign worldwide over the last year - The Drum




Case study by Scholz & Friends.




“My characters are not only proud, confident women, unashamed of periods, but they are also posed in our relaxed natural state,” Curbelo said. “I want people to laugh at the characters’ uninhibited attitude and see themselves in the illustrations.”


The Guardian










Selected press:


The Drum - World Creative Rankings: the 20 most awarded ad campaigns of the year

The Guardian - No luxury: book containing tampons is runaway hit
Digital Arts Online - Amazing illustrators on the body-positive art breaking female taboos
Creative Boom - The creative team railing against the tampon tax by hiding sanitary products in a beautifully illustrated book
El País - Un libro lleno de tampones para pagar un IVA reducido
Vogue - Why This Protest Tampon Book Is Flying Off The Shelves
HK01 -德國瘋搶棉條書衛生棉是奢侈品貴過松露?澳洲「月經抗爭」18年
Stylist Magazine  - A book with 15 free tampons inside it has sold out for this political reason
The Irish Times - Book containing tampons becomes a bestseller
Melville House - Packaging tampons as books: the subversive new way to avoid a sexist tax








Ana Curbelo                  anacurbelo.hi@gmail.com     ABOUT    SHOP

London, United Kingdom