Key Takeaways:
Women’s health has faced pushback in advertising and retail for decades. In particular, social media platforms have historically applied stricter rules to products concerning the subject compared to adjacent categories such as men’s health and general wellness.
Despite a clear market (and necessity) for women’s health, valued at $46.69 billion in 2025, predicted to grow to approximately $66.62 billion by 2034, 38% of content creators addressing the market have experienced at least 10 or more incidents of online advertising censorship in the past 12 months.
In this day and age, social media algorithms allow sex to sell, sometimes in graphic ways, yet these platforms struggle to understand the essential education and sale of sexual wellness. It only takes a couple of examples to highlight the ongoing issue.
Gynecological cancer charity The Eve Appeal recently revealed concerns with banned hashtags when #VaginalCancer was flagged as going against Instagram’s community guidelines, whereas a Playboy image of a sexualized woman with her breasts exposed was approved. In another case, sexual well-being platform Hanx was censored by Meta for debunking the myth that condoms are commonly lost inside a vagina, yet erectile dysfunction business Mojo was able to share an ad claiming “we’ve helped over 1,000,000 men overcome erection issues,” alongside the branding “get hard.”
The social media struggle is something Wisp, the largest women’s telehealth provider in the US (with over 1.5M patients), knows all too well. “We’ve built the most comprehensive women’s health platform in the country, serving patients from their first birth control prescription through fertility, menopause, and everything in between,” Wisp CEO Monica Cepak told BeautyMatter. “But when it comes to marketing, the playing field is still not equal. We’ve been fighting this imbalance for a long time.”
Striving to succeed on the sexual wellness social selling front, Wisp became the first women’s telehealth provider to launch on TikTok Shop, as of September 2. The brand is using the launch to not only expand the retail footprint of its over-the-counter (OTC) essentials like UTI relief, but also challenge the longstanding bias in how platforms regulate sexual wellness content.
The Long Road to TikTok Shop
From intentionally misspelling words like “sex” as “seggz” to avoid censorship, to replacing letters with symbols, brands like Wisp have been forced into linguistic gymnastics to reach consumers with basic health information. Wisp is determined to overcome these metaphorical balance beams.
Earlier this year, the company achieved a milestone when it became the first brand in the US to run herpes medication ads on TikTok, a category that has been banned, despite herpes being one of the most commonly cited sexual wellness concerns in the world.
Noting the achievement, Cepak touched on the success, while cautiously relaying her disappointment in timelines. "It's such a shame it took until 2025 to be able to educate audiences about their options. There is no cure for herpes, yet millions of people suffer from a lack of education and treatment throughout their lives.” For Wisp, the breakthrough marked a step towards democratizing access to such essential care.
TikTok has until now been restricted in what it allows to be sold regarding women's sexual wellness products, effectively shutting brands out of one of the fastest growing retail channels. Through its launch, Wisp is testing the waters by starting out with OTC products, beginning with its UTI Cleansing Drink Mix, with more items planned for launch later this year.
Prescription products will remain outside of TikTok Shop, since they require important consultations, but Wisp sees the marketplace as an entry point to its broader services.
“When women have a UTI or an urgent health need, speed matters,” Cepak explained. “TikTok Shop gives us another way to meet women and provide fast access to high-quality care.”
Embedding into the Everyday
The decision to launch on TikTok Shop goes beyond commerce; it's also about visibility and accessibility. As younger consumers spend significant time on the app, it has become a primary destination for health, beauty, and wellness discovery.
“TikTok is replacing TV viewership in significant ways,” Cepak noted. “If we can engage with women where they already are and build trust, that’s how we acquire them and create long-term relationships.”
For many young consumers, digital-first strategies help to reduce stigma. Buying a product from the privacy of an app can feel less intimidating than asking a doctor or pharmacist for it. “You don’t have to walk into a store and announce what you’re dealing with,” Cepak said. “Accessing women’s care should be easy and stigma-free—it’s basic healthcare.”
By integrating into TikTok’s ecosystem, Wisp positions itself not only as a retailer but as a source of education and normalization.
Times Square to TikTok
Wisp is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of sexual wellness visibility. In 2022, the brand famously fought an eight-month legal battle to run an out-of-home campaign in Times Square featuring the word “vagina.”
”I kept getting told it wasn’t ‘family friendly,’” Cepak recalled. “Meanwhile, violent or frightening imagery [for film promotions, etc] was fine. It’s always a process and a struggle, especially as a women’s healthcare brand.”
This struggle continues today, with frequent rejections across Meta, Google, and TikTok. Yet each breakthrough, whether a billboard or social commerce listing, has broader implications for the category. Wisp’s TikTok Shop debut represents not just a win for the brand, but a precedent that could help other women’s health companies gain entry.
While Wisp is currently limited to OTC products on TikTok Shop, the company aims to expand its reach. Categories like libido supplements remain off-limits despite serving real consumer needs. “Nobody can give me an answer on why sexual pleasure is restricted,” Cepak said. “But we’ll keep pushing, because these products deliver real value to patients, and that’s what matters most.
The company’s long-term vision is to normalize women’s health in the same way other wellness categories have become mainstream. Just as erectile dysfunction moved from taboo to ubiquitous in advertising, Wisp believes women's sexual wellness is poised for a similar shift. TikTok Shop, with its unique blend of discovery and commerce, could be the channel that accelerates that change.
Wisp’s launch is more than a retail move, it's a cultural moment. It signals that women’s health products are not only viable in social commerce but also in high demand by consumers who expect the same level of access and visibility as other categories. As Cepak put it, "Accessing women’s care should be easy and stigma-free. It’s basic healthcare.”
