Throughout life people with uterus’ are constantly reminded about things they should be doing to manage their body’s physical health. Cervical screening, pelvic floor exercises, regular breast checks, the list goes on. As they age, the noise regarding their health gets louder, but despite this there’s very little conversation about sexual wellbeing. The taboo exists despite the fact that in the UK alone, there are estimated to be around 13 million peri and post-menopausal people, in need of information and support.

This lack of education starts early in life. Alongside the fact that sexual wellness for women over 45 is disregarded in a clinical setting, a study published by Post Reproductive Health last year stated that 9 out of 10 women surveyed were never taught about the menopause. Many also stated not knowing what symptoms to expect, and the treatments or therapies available that may help to ease pain caused by challenges like vaginal dryness.

Studies have shown that orgasms have demonstrated a positive impact on women’s physical and mental wellbeing, especially in those who are post-menopausal. This sparked an idea – masturbation as medicine. We partnered with MysteryVibe, a company that developed the first doctor-designed, FDA approved intimacy device, and Professor Joyce Harper, an award-winning Professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women’s Health, UCL, to call on doctors to prescribe masturbation to post-menopausal people as a way to improve their wellbeing and help them to manage what can sometimes be debilitating symptoms.

When interviewed, Professor Harper explained: “It’s one of our last taboos in women’s health – we need to start talking about masturbation and orgasms for post-menopausal people.

“Masturbation and orgasms are really good for our health, so we need to get education embedded for people to understand they should do this and talk about it. We need to encourage post-menopausal people to take an active role in their sexual health education.”

Our digitally led campaign launched with an educational campaign film. Professor Harper provided educational tips and tricks, tackling the taboo, and providing educational content. And what better way to get people talking than to promote masturbation as medicine across the streets of Manhattan.

An arresting out-of-home (OOH) campaign took over billboard spots of central New York, encouraging the exploration of a ‘menopause prescription they’d be happy to take, over and over again.’

The campaign launched during the busiest shopping period of the year, in the run up to Christmas, to ensure maximum campaign reach. And reach it did, in the two week live-period, we managed to reach over 2.3 million people.

And this is just the start. Watch this space and perhaps think about whether masturbation could be medicine for you too.