Tampon Technology in Britain: Unilever's Project Hyacinth and the "7-Day War" Campaign, 1968–1980

How much do we know about the historic relationship between the corporations that develop menstrual technologies and consumers? This case study adds to the growing literature on users of gendered technology, examining consumers' role in Unilever's ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful tampon project in the 1970s. Investigating the creation of the absorbent material Lyogel, Unilever's menstrual data collection, and the accompanying "7-Day War" marketing campaign, I demonstrate the link between technology, corporations, and consumers. Anonymous consumers gave Unilever information about their menstrual habits. This provided insight into the lived experience of menstruation and knowledge of menstrual technologies in an era when talking about this topic was taboo.