Bronze Lion - Cleanipedia, "The Unmentionables"

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Cleanipedia - The image demonstrates an outdoor campaign, split into two halves to illustrate a day and night view. During the day, the billboard promotes "Panda," featuring "The world's most breathable mattress" with a link to "pandadlondon.com." At night, the same billboard reveals a different message under blacklight: "Tips for any stain at any time" by Cleanipedia, along with a QR code for more information. The night view highlights the stain-cleaning theme, with the text glowing brightly against the dark background using UV lights. The transition between day and night is marked by a vertical line splitting the image in the middle.

The campaign leverages outdoor placements to talk about some of the most searched for stains online. However, given their nature (bodily fluid), these stains are never the subject of advertising.

Partnering with brands that sell products where bodily fluid stains can happen, we “hijacked” their ads. During the day, the billboards look like standard ads but at night, thanks to the use of UV lights, our unmentionable stains come to life to make a unique and unmissable use of outdoor, and bring these stains into the public eye.

Bodily fluids can be an embarrassing topic of conversation here in the UK. Always have been. But why should something so natural be a topic we don’t discuss?

We know from research that tips on removing stains caused by bodily fluids are searched for online more than any other kind of stain, yet most brands avoid talking about them because they’re considered too embarrassing.

To fill this gap, Cleanipedia launched a campaign using outdoor ads to attract younger viewers to their TikTok channel. Here, real experts give friendly advice on dealing with these embarrassing stains, creating a supportive community for those needing help with issues often ignored by other brands.

Together with solving a real consumer pain point, the campaign taps into a growing cultural trend.

Campaign background

As a small and still unknown brand the aim was to drive awareness for Cleanipedia and cement its role as the science-backed source of cleaning help.

Extensive research revealed a surprising trend: the most common stains people seek help for online aren't grass or red wine on carpets; they're bodily fluids—what we've dubbed "The Unmentionables." Blood, faeces, semen, and sweat stains pose significant challenges, yet discussing them openly remains taboo. Cleanipedia, advocating a non-judgmental approach to stain removal, recognised the need for action. We had to innovate, finding unconventional ways to address this issue.

Campaign impact

With a integrated campaign we drove substantial noise with targeted billboards, micro Cleaning influencers, other micro influencers and PR to generate;

Innovative elements of the work

We collaborated with retail challenger brands such as Panda, Pruzan & Comfyballs, strategically repurposing their posters at high-traffic locations. By day, their original ads showcased bedding, sportswear, and underwear. As night fell, UV lights illuminated revealing our unmentionable stains alongside Cleanipedia branding and messaging, accompanied by a QR code.

This code directed viewers to a TikTok video on Cleanipedia's page, featuring a 'Cleanfluencer' who boldly addresses taboo stains, providing a science-backed cleaning guide in their unique style, challenging societal norms.

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