2015 is the 10th anniversary year of Persil’s Dirt is Good campaign. The Stable looks at a bright star in a dull sky – cleaning product advertising.
Persil began as the champion of whiteness with its slogan, Persil Washes Whiter. No surprises there. Persil was the first detergent to advertise on television, in 1955. That TVC was surprising because of its media within media idea. The commercial showed a billboard poster being pasted up while a broadcaster asked the question, “Guess the brand.” Eventually, the poster showed two young women in white dresses with the slogan, “Persil washes whiter – that means cleaner.”
The Unilever brand began identifying mums as its audience, and building an emotional connection with them through their children, in 2002. Big Mummy was a Persil UK campaign to get children to enter an art competition, by drawing or painting a picture of their parents. Persil’s aim was to put together a giant mosaic of all their entries and enter it into the Guinness World book of records.
In 2005, Persil worked out its new postioning:
“Persil is dedicated to showing you that dirt isn’t always bad. In fact, Dirt is Good – especially when it’s the result of your kids going out into the world to have fun, explore, learn and experience the very best the world around us has to offer. Not only will this help develop kids’ understanding of their world, the environment and nature, it will also shape their values, grow their confidence, benefit their health and ultimately help them reach important milestones.”
And JWT launched the first Dirt is Good ads.
That campaign has been running ever since. The most famous execution in the campaign so far is Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s mesmerising Roboboy with its strapline, “Every child has the right to be a child. Dirt is good,” that launched in 2008.
The newest Dirt is Good ad is by DLKW Lowe. No, it’s not the most creative ad in the campaign, but here’s what it does have: a child prodigy, who also happens to be YouTube phenomenon…
…a laundry detergent torture test delivered in in interesting way (B-Girl Terra is an 8 year old breakdancer who becomes progressively filthy during her performance that is the content of the 50 second ad), cuteness…
…and a little copywriting magic: At the end of the spot, the young dancer starts spinning on her head and when she stops her clothes are perfectly clean again. The tagline is “powerful stain removal with every spin”.
The ad has already run in France and Switzerland and will break in the UK, Spain, Portugal and Denmark later this month.
Creative credits:
Agency: DLKW Lowe
Creatives: Ben Evans & Adam Sears
Production company: Academy
Director: Nadia
