Getting a brief to write a prime time commercial for incontinence is probably not what you’d call a dream job for most advertising creatives.

Certainly not back at the end of the 20th century when sanitary protection was still pretty medieval, let alone the dreaded ‘inco’ category.

But for me, being briefed on Tena was a golden opportunity.

I hated the advertising that had been done for years across the world, with elderly women being forced to deliver excruciating oblique dialogue beside tinkling streams.

This had nothing to do with the reality of the problem.

It crossed all age groups and was strongly linked to motherhood.

I wanted to redefine the problem and give women recognition for their strength, not their bladder’s weakness.

This wasn’t about old people who couldn’t ‘hold it together’.

This was about one in three women who have had children suffering from bladder weakness.

The secrecy around this taboo, made women of all ages feel terrible about themselves.

To me, these women represented strength, and bladder weakness was yet another war wound of motherhood.

There was plenty of support for do the pelvic floor work, in the campaign.

But the purpose of this ad was to helped remove the shame, I decided to go one step further and celebrate their strength.

The other joy was casting a bunch of heavily pregnant friends, none of whom were actors, to star in the commercial. Very real.

Agency: Clemenger BBDO (Melbourne) late 1990s.