Laxatives commercials tend to signal that it’s time to check your Instagram feed or make a drink before the show recommences. Creative agency, Five by Five Global, and comedy director, Armand de Saint-Salvy, have solved the problem by making a series of films that are 25 seconds of irreverent, slightly offensive fun which casually ties in to solving the problem of constipation in the last 5. The cinematic quality of the films enhances the unexpected twist, on the twist, at the end.
The campaign aims to establish Prunelax as “the custodian of true relief”.
The campaign, which relaunches Actor Pharma’s laxative brand, Prunelax, has kicked off with two films. Three more are to follow and the campaign will run across YouTube, digital, BVOD & social.
Five By Five executive creative director, Craig Bailey, commented, The Relief spots were developed against a strategy hell-bent on driving awareness by cutting through the sanitised health category in a major pivot from traditional pharmaceutical advertising. Taking a brief asking for a campaign that will ‘ruffle some feathers’ is always accepted with cautious optimism. In this case: brave client? Tick. Audacious strategy? Tick. Our mandate to create a campaign communicating that you don’t know true relief, until you’ve tried Prunelax, wilfully manifested into this unapologetically amusing work.
“Most of the time outrageous creative ideas don’t survive the first cut, but our client was bang up for it based on our agreed strategy. No-one has approached the subject of constipation in this way before and it takes a great agency/client relationship to make that happen. We’re inordinately proud of this campaign.”
Donna Jacobson, marketing manager of Actor Pharma, stated, “We’re living in a strange time with a lot of noise in the media; so it was imperative to find the right agency to help us cleave through it all – Five by Five just got ‘us’ and what we wanted to achieve. We are very excited to launch the Relief campaign, to help us build awareness of Prunelax as the preferred natural laxative brand.”
Credits:
Client: Actor Pharma
Marketing Manager: Donna Jacobson
Creative Agency: Five by Five Global
Executive Creative Director: Craig Bailey
Creatives: Craig Bailey & Nick Donovan
Strategy Director: Matt Lawton
Client Director: Marc Grantham
Production Manager: Amar Narula
Account Manager: Lois Vega
Account Executive: Rukiya Ahad
Production Company: Helium.Film
Director: Armand de Saint-Salvy
DOP: Jordan Maddocks
Executive Producer: Brenden Johnson
Producer: Benjamin O’Donnell
Casting: Fountainhead Casting
Post-Production: Vandal
Editor: Armand de Saint-Salvy
Grading: Marcus Timpson
Flame: Phil Stuart Jones
Sound Design: Nigel Crowley
Music Composition: Subvert.tv
