Women bash Always Kenya for campaign that ignored customer complaints

Kenyans have not taken kindly to the latest Always Kenya promotional campaign. Women have called out the big sanitary product for ignoring their concerns about the poor quality of sanitary pads. This was after the company sponsored a bunch of influencers to a luxurious weekend as part of the launch of their new brand of pads, Always Ultra Soft. Using the #FeelTheComfortAlways hashtag, the brand used influencers to push the new product as well as the Always Girl Talk sessions which was also being introduced.

But what really pissed off Kenyan women was how the brand ignored the grievances of the some of the women who have continually had bad experiences with the pads. More so that the quality of pads in Kenya is lower than those in American and European markets.

“Today I woke up to do my share of activism to demand better #sanitary products for Kenyan women. After #MyAlwaysExperience, Always Kenya decided to take a bunch of influencers to #Fairmont for the badly named #FeelTheComfortAlways,” tweeted Gatwiri

Last month, some Kenyan women had taken to social to complain about the poor quality of pads through the #MyAlwaysExperience. In the thread, Kenyans complained of rashes, plastic covering used making the pads unbreathable, scented pads being smelly after use and discomfort from the heat.

“Using Always always left me with a rash, burns that took weeks to heal and made it impossible to wear underwear or walk properly, and leaks due to my heavy flow. And the smell! They should do better. #MyAlwaysExperience,” tweeted another.

A quick look at the reviews segment of Always Facebook page reveals a lot of complaints from users. The response is a quick redirection to the DM or direct exchange of contacts for the Always team to reach the customers. However this seems not to appease Kenyans who have refused to be addressed privately, demanding that the issue is addressed publicly.

They also put Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) on the spot for allowing substandard products to flood the market.

"I think this campaign should be taken seriously by boycotting the product. Some of these multinationals take advantage of our rubbish enforcement agents to sell shitty products. Products they would never sell in the EU nor US markets #MyAlwaysExperience move to @KotexKenya," tweeted Wayne Thogoto

But it has not always been gloom and doom for the brand with their pages also receiving a fair share of positive reviews for their products. Always has also been at the forefront of empowering the girls with the Keeping Girls in School Programme.

Responding through their twitter handle, Always Kenya maintained that their “products go through very rigorous regulatory tests and are also tested with real women to ensure that they are safe for use.” The brand also pinpointed that the needs of the Kenyan girl is their number priority and that they recognize the evolving needs of their consumers.

The Always Ultra pads we have in Kenya are similar to the Always pads in other parts of the world including Germany, UK, US, South Africa. All our pads including the ones in Kenya are designed and developed in Europe and the US .