Woolworths period care rebrand won’t be completed until 2022

Six months after announcing a major change to aisles, a shopper spotted a problem in some stores, prompting an update from Woolworths.

Six months after announcing Woolworths stores would change the name of the feminine hygiene care section, an eagle-eyed shopper has spotted an issue with its signs.

The supermarket giant revealed in February it was rebranding the section to “period care” in a national effort to beat the stigma surrounding periods.

But TikTok user Ellie, an advocate for tackling the stigma surrounding women’s menstrual cycles on her account @thebetterperiod_, posted a video showing an issue at her local store.

While the Woolworths signage above the products had changed to its new name, the sign hanging from the ceiling to alert shoppers to what is in the aisle still read “feminine hygiene”.

“Have you noticed this? Back in February, Woolworths announced that they were going to change the name of the Feminine Hygiene aisle to Period Care,” Ellie says in her video.

Six months after announcing Woolworths would rebrand feminine hygiene to period care, some stores still don’t have the new signage. Picture: TikTok

“I’ve just noticed they finally changed it to Period Care here,” she added, pointing to the shelf stocked with the period products. “But here it still says Feminine Hygiene.”

“I guess it’s something. What does your local Woolies say?” she asked.

A Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au the new signage rollout was well under way, but it was taking time due the number of stores that need updating.

“We have more than 1000 stores across Australia, and since we announced the change in February, more than half of them have either completed or started to update their signage,” the spokesperson said.

“We thank customers for their patience and we will continue to implement the signage across all our stores into next year.”

Woolworths added it was “pleased to see our customers’ enthusiasm” for the rebrand, reinforcing its decision to change the name.

“We believe it’s an important conversation and is a small change that will help debunk the stigma of calling a period what it is.”

TikTok user spotted her Woolies has changed some signs, but not the ones hanging over the aisles. Picture: TikTok

Back in February, Woolworths managing director Natalie Davis said the supermarket was “excited” to roll out the change in all stores in Australia in the months ahead, but didn’t give a definitive time frame.

However the new signage is already visible across Woolworths digital platforms.

“Many of us still tread around using the word period as if it’s inappropriate or something to be ashamed of. The truth is periods are a very natural part of life,” she told news.com.au at the time.

“This is a change we can make today that will help debunk the stigma of calling a period what it is and will help many young women grow up feeling less shame or embarrassment, so we’re excited to introduce this in Australia.”

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