These Charming Persil Spots Were Animated Entirely on School Shirts

Ogilvy, in collaboration with Oscar-winning studio Aardman, has redefined the product demo for Unilever’s laundry brand Persil. Children and adults alike were treated to a first-of-its-kind animation entitled 'Monster Stains', when it launched in cinemas and online this week.

To demonstrate Persil’s stain removal power, Ogilvy came up with the innovative idea of creating a stop-frame animation using school shirts as the canvas and tough stains as the paint. Aardman was chosen as the ideal partner for its best-in-class animation techniques. They created a unique colour palette using 28 common household stains, including everything from gravy and jam to grass and chocolate ice cream.

It took a team of ten artists and nearly three months to complete the 60 seconds of animation featured within the film. The meticulous method included painting a single frame of animation on a shirt, photographing it, washing the shirt clean with Persil, drying it, ironing it, and preparing it for the next frame of animation to be painted on. This process was repeated 2,576 times in total, after which, all the photos were stitched together to create the animation. 

The two-and-a-half minute launch film introduces a couple of animated monsters who end up learning to overcome their fears and getting dirty in the process - illustrating Persil’s philosophy that ‘Dirt Is Good’. The two characters then re-appear in a series of five shorter content pieces that will be used across social media and eCommerce.

Ogilvy used the same tough stains to create a complete bespoke typeface especially for the campaign.

They also partnered with Kode Media, an international production company, who produced, shot and edited all of the live action elements in the film.

James Hayhurst, Brand Equity Director at Unilever said, “These entertaining films bring a whole new slant to the traditional laundry product demo and the idea that where there's a stain, there's a story. The characters capture the fun-loving spirit of the ‘Dirt Is Good’ brand philosophy and the short form content is a perfect way to connect with our consumers on their mobile devices and in the e-commerce environment.”

Andre Laurentino, Global Executive Creative Director for Unilever at Ogilvy said, “We wanted to take Persil’s product demos to the next level. We of course knew how the stains would be removed. So we spent time thinking about how we got them on. We got messy, we had fun, and we learned a lot - a typical ‘Dirt is Good’ story.”

Merlin Crossingham, Creative Director at Aardman commented, “At Aardman we have a history of embracing big challenges and when Ogilvy came to us with such an interesting project, we jumped in with both feet. The finished spots are playful stories with delightful characters, created in a truly unique way and we hope you enjoy them.”