Following the announcement that Revolut would partner with organic menstrual care provider Yoppie to “cover the cost of period care,” the banking fintech has seen strong backlash against the campaign’s abysmal execution.
The ‘Invest in Yourself’ campaign promises to cover the costs of Yoppie’s organic menstrual care products for 12 months for current Revolut Metal users, and anyone who upgrades to the Metal plan by the end of February 2022.
A fairly important caveat is that the cost of Revolut’s Metal subscription is £12.99 per month, which is more than twice the value that the £5 cashback from Revolut will cover. Revolut will give Metal customers a £5 cashback for 12 months when they use Yoppie’s subscription service, encouraging users to use to cashback to “get ahead on financial goals”.
For the record, the fintech offers a £50 reward for users who refer a friend to the service.
Tara Massoudi, product operations lead at Revolut states: “Getting people back in control of their finances has been Revolut’s mission from day one. Now we also want to give back to women the money they spend on their menstrual care. Products like tampons or pads are essential items and we don’t think that people who get their period should have to pay for them. Instead, they could use this money to save up and invest and potentially increase their capital.”
An infographic released alongside the announcement has only exacerbated the negative reaction, which condescendingly outlines the ‘true cost of a period.’ Listing junk food, chocolate, wine as essential expenses related to menstruation plays on stereotypes, the graphic manages to successfully reinforce outdated typecasts while trivialising a very real social issue.
Commentators have also questioned who exactly did the maths to concoct the expenses listed on the graphic:
As the campaign’s press release states, despite HM Treasury abolishing the 5% VAT on sanitary products in January, the cost of sanitary items remains sizeable and adds up to thousands of pounds spent over a lifetime. The assumption that all those who menstruate would even have disposable income available to spend on junk food, chocolate, and wine in addition to sanitary products is disappointing, though perhaps not surprising.
Revolut recently came under fire for its dismal gender pay gap, revealing that it pays its female staff almost one third less (31.2%) than male employees. There are just two women out of the twelve members on Revolut’s senior leadership team.