Power of a smile
LISTERINE® UK & Ireland
Issue 37 | December 2015
Agency
JWT London
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director Russell Ramsey Creative Director John Cherry Creative Will Helm Will Brookwell
Production Team
TV Producer Spru Rowland Director Lucy Walker Production Company Pulse Films Editor GPS Sound Wake the Town
Other Credits
Planner (creative agency) Thomas Scovell Julie Roberts Global Director in Charge Rafael Freitas Matthew Cunnell (Board AD’s) Account Director Lizzie Alleyne Project Managers Julian Poole (Digital Producer), Joseph Bassary Media agency MEC Media planner Charles Peyron Client Alice Lovell, Brand Manager LISTERINE® UK & Ireland
Date
August 2015
Background
For Listerine mouthwash, smiling was a universal human expression employed even by people who were born blind. Often they could pick up when someone is smiling at them by the sound of their voice. But there were many situations in which blind people could give but not receive a smile.
Idea
Listerine wanted to remind people just how powerful a smile could be. They set out to champion the power of a smile in a mobile app and to show how smiling had a positive effect on people's lives.
Using facial recognition technology and the camera function on every smartphone, the app could detect a smile up to five metres away and notified the user with a beep or with vibration feedback.
To launch the app in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Germany and the Netherlands, double Oscar nominated director Lucy Williams made a short film called 'Feel Every Smile', showing the reactions of four blind people when the smile detector app let them experience someone smiling at them.
The app was endorsed by the RNIB to ensure it was accessible and useful to blind and partially sighted people.
Results
2.5 million views on YouTube.
Our Thoughts
In the mouthwash wars, there is some horrible product-focused advertising so this emotional approach is to be applauded and judging from the Facebook mentions it got a lot of genuine shares and likes because of it. It's not just a video about smiles, it's a video that inspires smiles when you watch it.
I read a comment about this being yet another brand trying to 'do a Dove'. But you can't really do anything else online, especially with a mouthwash. No-one in their right mind is going to watch an advert featuring an animated fireman hosing down the inside of a mouth but they will watch a touching story about people experiencing what it is like to be smiled at and to smile with others.
Besides which, the idea here is actually the app, not the film. And while the film is touching the app could be life-enhancing for thousands.
It's advertising, but not as we knew it. JWT are moving with the times.