“I’m fine”—a vast majority of women utter those two words reflexively in various scenarios when they’re not, in fact, feeling fine.
Now, Megababe is tackling this so-called “comfort tax” with an ad campaign designed to encourage women to better advocate for themselves.
On Monday, the personal care brand unveiled a series of bright orange-and-white ads across New York City that underscore how women have normalized discomfort. The campaign marks Megababe’s first foray into social-first messaging. It comes alongside the results of a March survey it conducted, which found that 85% of women would rather be uncomfortable than inconvenience someone else.
Women claiming to be “fine” is so pervasive that 96% of the 500 respondents reported doing so at least weekly, even when they’re not fine. These types of “shockingly high” statistics, while sad, weren’t altogether surprising—which is why Megababe decided to highlight the bigger implications of this small behavior that’s so ingrained among women, says founder Katie Sturino.
“We wanted to talk about how some of this ‘I’m fine’ business affects actual physical health—meaning that we don’t want to complain and seem high maintenance to the point where we don’t go to the doctor,” Sturino tells Fast Company in an exclusive interview. “We just suffer through things.”
In fact, the survey found that 65% of women have never told their doctors about a recurring body discomfort, because they felt it was too embarrassing or “not serious enough” to mention. While medical gaslighting is also a serious issue many women will encounter, recognizing the learned behavior of dismissing discomfort is an important first step, Sturino says.
“I just want women to go off”
The ad campaign includes a phone number that people can call or text to complain about whatever might be irking them at the moment, be it a body issue or someone else. That’s something Sturino says she proudly encourages her 800,000-plus followers on social media to do regularly.
“I just want women to go off,” Sturino says. “I want to catch you in your moment of feeling frustrated and give you an opportunity to vent where it’s not going to really impact your day-to-day life.”
Much like how the topic of the “pink tax” became a talking point about a decade ago, Megababe hopes that the idea of a comfort tax will similarly become something that’s reevaluated. And Sturino says it’s especially important right now to give women the opportunity to vent without judgment.
“Women are tired; I think that women are carrying the mental load at home,” she says. “Certainly they’re not getting support from our government or current administration in any way, shape, or form, so it feels as though things just keep getting pushed onto women.”
Putting a stop to it
Megababe’s ad campaign intentionally doesn’t include any mention of its growing array of personal care products, which now includes a new chafe gel and a blister stick for feet. Next month it will debut an antifungal product, and this summer it will move into a new category focused on overheating, according to Sturino.
The company first burst onto the market in 2017 with an anti-chafe stick for the thighs. And according to Sturino, the company’s nearly decade-long legacy makes it the “perfect” fit for creating a cultural discussion around encouraging women to stop the “I’m fine” reflexive behavior.
“We are the brand that destigmatized thigh chafe and boob sweat, and we take on issues that women have traditionally been told to just deal with or say, ‘I’m fine,’ and move on,” she says. “Now we want to help you in a different way.”
Only about 9% of women in Megababe’s survey say they prioritize their comfort over anyone else. Sturino hopes this campaign will encourage other women to say what they need to actually be fine and comfortable.
“Let’s stop this behavior that we’ve all agreed to do for no reason,” she says.