How far would you go to sell a pitch? For the creative team behind the new advertising campaign from Depend, the answer is “down to the ankles.”
At least that’s what Ogilvy team members Calle Sjoeneel (CCO), Victoria Azarian (GCD), and Danielle Vieth did when they went to pitch the “Underwareness” campaign to Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Depend adult diapers incontinence products: after the opening notes of “Get Ready for This” by 2 Unlimited started playing, all dropped to their skivvies to reveal they were wearing Depend undergarments.
“It’s time to bring it out in the open — it’s time to drop your pants for Underwareness. A cause to support the over 65 million people who may need Depend underwear. Show them they’re not alone, and show off a pair of Depend, because wearing a different kind of underwear is no big deal.”
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“It was a pretty amazing moment,” Ms. Azarian said.
The goal of the campaign, which debuts today and aims at consumers under 50, is to reduce the stigma of such products by showing that bladder incontinence happens more often than most people realize (and to people younger than the AARP set).
And while the campaign also highlights a less-bulky, more underwear-like design, there were no obvious efforts to undercut the other recent stories involving adult undergarments and unsavory characters: (Did Astronaut Lisa Nowak, Love Triangle Attacker, Wear Diaper, Las Vegas shooters heavily armed, wore adult diapers, etc.).
Perhaps that’s something Depend hopes to clear up with the accompanying social media campaign, which encourages users who are not incontinent (and presumably not crazy) to post a photo of themselves wearing the products to their social networks in a gesture of solidarity. For every photo, video or message that is posted to social networks and to YouTube using the hashtags #Underwareness or #DropYourPants, the brand will donate $1, up to a total of $3 million, to the Simon Foundation for Continence and the United Way Worldwide.
Will they reach their goal?
Spot: “Drop Your Pants City”
Client: Depend®
Ogilvy & Mather, New York
Chief Creative Officer: Calle Sjoenell
Group Creative Director: Victoria Azarian
Creative Director (art): Natalie Fevig
Creative Director (copy): Danielle Vieth
Producer: Melanie Baublis / Lauren Ziffer
President GBM: Jaime Prieto
Executive Group Director: Tara Allerton
Account Director: Christina Montero
Account Executive: Suzanne Roath
Head Planner: Katie Moran
Senior Planner: Sura Zaatari
Director: Scott Vincent
Production Company: Hungry Man
Editorial: Tom Scherma, Cosmo Street
Music Production: Chris Mazur Ogilvy&Mather, Ben Lindell and Doug Larsen, East Midwest Music
Organic, Inc.
Chad Haus – Group Director, Strategy
Jim Napolitano – VP, Client Services
April Spinale – Associate Director, Client Services
Lauren Shah – Delivery Manager
Stephen Timblin – Creative Director
Michelle Van Der Maas – Associate Creative Director
Darren Cutlip – Senior Designer
Amanda Van Keuren – Senior Copywriter
Sue Schmitt – Senior Associate, Technology Solutions
David Wilhelm – Senior Creative Technologist
Jacob Glide – Senior Creative Technologist
Jason Randall – Senior Associate, Services Architecture
Jeannette Henderson – Manager, Quality Engineering
Felecia Buckner – Senior Associate, Quality Engineering