Have you ever heard of a beauty product that advertises a product that gives you wrinkles? Well, Colenso BBDO won a Gold Cannes Lion for doing just that. To cut to the chase–the brilliantly shocking campaign advertises a new type of moisturizer developed by The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation and the innovative beauty brand Skinfood: a breast cream that when applied regularly, gets women to feel for lumps that could be early signs of cancer. Thus, the skin cream helps you live long enough to get wrinkles!
In our desperately anti-aging obsessed society, the original claim of a cream that gives you wrinkles sounds insane. The idea is so out there, that it immediately sparks your interest. This is the goal of most advertisements. On top of that, this advertisement uses the element of surprise, which is extremely effective. The seemingly backward claim surprises the target audience and draws them in, which leads to the audience learning that when using the advertised breast cream, they will ultimately add years onto their lives by checking for lumps more frequently while using the cream. Thus, “adding wrinkles” is a clever way of insinuating a potentially longer, breast cancer-free life that is often cut short by not taking the proper precautionary measures. The product solves this problem.
Statistically, about 50% of breast cancers are detected outside of mammograms. However, 70% of women don’t routinely check themselves for lumps. If women were to add the use of breast cream into their daily beauty routine, they’d be tremendously more likely to find lumps early on and potentially save lives. We commend Colenso BBDO on their excellent work!
Check out the case study for the campaign below:
CAMPAIGN CREDITS
Client: New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation
Agency: Colenso BBDO
Creative Chairman: Nick Worthington
Creative Director: Levi Slavin
Senior Art Director: Kristal Knight
Senior Copywriter: Rachael Macklin
Copywriter: Hannah Habgood
Business Director: Hannah Watson
Production Partner: Skinfood