Marathons are painful and one of the most common, and painful, issues is also a surprise – unless you’re a runner. It’s runner’s nipple. In a stroke of genius by Ogilvy Singapore (that possibly contains some serious creative runners), Vaseline became the Official Nipple Protector for the TCS  London Marathon, protecting more than 100,000 nipples (from 59,000 registered starters).

The idea was uncovered through the award-winning Vaseline Verified platform. Among the thousands of community-submitted hacks validated by the brand, nipple protection for runners surfaced as one of the most interesting and effective applications of Vaseline Jelly.

The initiative is part of Vaseline’s partnership with the TCS London Marathon and included a free Vaseline to participants at the TCS London Marathon Running Show, on April 22–25. Products were also provided at ‘Nip Stops’ along the 26.2mile/42.195km course on event day, April 26, ensuring that participants of all levels, from first‑timers to experienced professionals, keep friction away from the marathon experience.

The Nipple Sponsorship has and continues to support runners at major running events and local run clubs around the world across the UK, Barcelona, Madrid, Caracas, Rotterdam, Singapore, Sydney, and Hong Kong, with more set to join this list. Vaseline will continue its commitment to ensuring every runner stays safe from the chafe throughout the 2026 season and beyond.

Nathalia Amadeu, global brand director, Vaseline, at Unilever, stated, “The Nipple Sponsorship recognises a hack trusted for decades. This isn’t about one race or one city. It’s about Vaseline showing up for every runner, on every course, at every distance, and making sure no one suffers a pain that was always preventable. We’re here to protect nipples,globally, and we’re not shy about saying it.”

There are approximately 1.1 million runners worldwide completing a marathon each year, with runner’s nipple featuring in very many long-distance run regimes of more than 40 miles/65km a week. Vaseline is also working with running creators around the world to sponsor their nipples, turning them into ambassadors sharing nipple care tips alongside other marathon training advice.

The Nipple Sponsorship has already spread across the running community, including creators – Johnny Morillo (@johnnymorilloo), Andrew Wheatcroft (@andrewdwheatcroft), Gregor Macdonald (@igregormac), Lee Roberts (@mrleeroberts), James Thomas (@instafudgie), Calum Harris (@calumharris), Adam Moriarty (@aa_moriarty),and Jordan Izzett (@izzettj).

Nicolas Courant, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Singapore, stated, “The moment you say, ‘Vaseline is sponsoring nipples,’ you’ve already won the room, but the idea runs deeper than the laugh. This is a brand claiming ownership of a real, universal runner’s truth that nobody else had the courage to name out loud. Runners across the world already rely on Vaseline® for this, and now we’re making it official, everywhere, not just at a finish line.”

Aanchal Sethi, Asia Managing Unilever, Ogilvy Singapore, added, “Vaseline Verified showed us the power of truly hearing what communities are saying, and what came back, loudly and consistently, was runners talking about nipple protection. That insight didn’t come from a strategy deck, it came from real people sharing real hacks across the globe. This work is the natural evolution of that: taking a community truth that already existed at scale and building a brand platform around it. When you listen this closely, the idea finds you.”

Credits
Client: Unilever (Vaseline)
Chief Marketing Officer: Leandro Barreto
Global Brand Director, Vaseline Nathalia Amadeu
Global Social Lead, Vaseline: Harriet Muddiman

Creative Agency:  Ogilvy Singapore
Global Chief Creative Officer: Liz Taylor
Chief Creative Officer, Asia; Reed Collins
Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Singapore: Nicolas Courant
Chief Creative Officer, WPP@Unilever; Marco Versolato
Associate Creative Directors, Art: Maggie Michella& Elder Caldeira
Senior Art Director, Creative: Jenny Fang
Senior Copywriter, Creative: Jules Rhety
Senior Copywriter: Anthony Eid
Creative Operations Director: Joanne Leong
Global Client Lead, Unilever: David Dahan
Asia Managing Director, Unilever: Aanchal Sethi
Group Account Director: Nayna Kotian
Project Manager: Bok Jo-Ann
Chief Strategy Officer, WPP@Unilever: Sumegha Rao
Senior Strategy Director: Shivendra Dikshit
Senior Strategist: Mellita Angga
Chief Executive Officer, Public Relations: Richard Brett
Senior Business Director, Public Relations: Kate Forbes
Senior Social Strategist: Seif Diab
Head of Influencer, Asia – PR & Influence, Social: James Baldwin
Senior Manager, Consumer PR & Influence: Holly Black
Director, Influence: Vernon Neo
Manager, Influence: Jesslyn Laiyenes
Head of Production; Gerri Hamill
Senior Print Producer: Gina Tan
Project Manager: Siti Saleh

PR Agencies: Ogilvy PR, Edelman London
Marketing Agency: Bearded Kitten (London)
Media Agency: Mindshare
Partnerships Agency: UEG Worldwide
Run Clubs: Easy Pace Only (SG), Midnight Runners (HK), The Sydney Run Club – TSRC (AU), All In Run Club (UK), THAT Run Club (UK), Grove Lane (UK), Stay in It (UK), Barked Off (UK)
Running Partners: London Marathon