Watch the ad below and try not to cry and try not to get inspired. If you’re up for it you can read my thoughts on this fascinating campaign by Unilever (also recently discussed in Brandweek) and the “culture of dirt” it relates to. It could well be that this post itself is dirty. What can I say? It’s a dirty world.
HERE’S WHAT I THINK ABOUT IT
According to Mary Douglas dirt is relative (that is cultural), Dirt is about misplacement – when something gets where it wasn’t supposed to be it becomes dirt. Each culture has its own ideas on where things belong – aka what is dirty. Fresh socks are not dirty in itself, but if you put them into a bowl of soup… Yuck! That’s definitely dirty.
How about people? Are people dirty? Sure! We’re dirty all the time, since (at least where I come from) we have long decided that sweat, mud, zits, etc. don’t belong on our bodies (women have a head start here as they can easily continue this list with various body hair issues). It’s a “Western” obsession to keep things and people clean at all cost. And costs it does! Think of all the products we buy to clean stuff. Their producers did their best to convince us that dirt is bad and that they can get things cleaner, or better yet, the cleanest.
Which brings me to Brandweek’s article on Unilever’s successful campaign for ____ (insert your regional name of their one-and-the-same detergent: Persil, Skip, Surf, Omo). After years of teaching us how dirt is bad and emphasizing the “getting dirt out of” your clothes (and life in general) Unilever reversed the story. Dirt is Good! (that’s actually their official slogan) We need dirt! Dirt brings happiness!
Guess who’s dirty now? Children who don’t get dirty are! Why, they’re not children at all. They’re robots who always stay inside (playing games and watching TV) and clean. They can’t really learn how to become people if they don’t go outside and get dirty. Parents, you don’t want that, do you? So let them out. Let them get dirty. It’s OK. It’s good! Just buy ___ (I know. I’m supposed to do the writing for you, but it’s not my fault if they sell the same product under different names. This is a simple blog. I have no idea where you come from.) and all will be well.
In marketing terms, it’s a simple story of a company deciding not to talk about it’s products directly (we’re all sick of “chemists” explaining the fascinating science of detergents and “mothers” testifying to the many qualities of X). Instead they chose to address the “meaning of life” type of stuff. You know, the really important stuff. The brand is there, but not in-your-face there. The success they’ve had (I’m talking increased market share here) suggests that engagement in important topics pays off. WARNING! It works because it actually has to do with the product and because we’ve all been “cultured” (by previous campaigns) to think of cleaning products and dirt in specific ways. Aah, the power of marketing…
