H&S needed to reposition itself as the leading anti-dandruff solution in Japan, where it was far from top of mind and consideration and lagging in an overly cluttered market. In Japan, cleanliness (seiketsukan) and presenting yourself as immaculate is a foundational part of the culture. That’s why dandruff is known to be a sensitive hygiene issue and the Japanese market is still underdeveloped in terms of anti-dandruff solutions. Even though dandruff is common with 41% of Japanese men having experienced dandruff, very few men dare speak of their scalp issues openly and lack information about how to get rid of them.

The campaign aims to help men break free from the stigma that surrounds dandruff and open up conversations by approaching the topic in an unexpected way. By telling the relatable story of how dandruff can get in the way of everyday life and tapping into the popular anime context, H&S hopes to relieve Japanese men’s fear of judgment over dandruff in a new way; with a light-hearted tonality that destigmatizes the topic and offers a simple solution.

So far, the film has been a massive success, garnering over 50 million views, a 7000% + spike in conversations around our brand and the issue of dandruff, $22 million in earned media with coverage across 12 countries, and an increase of 200% in brand search.

This is a category-breaking animation. But since anime is very popular in Japan, with its own distinct style and storytelling, we went for an approach that would stand out: 2.5D - mixing in realistic settings and the liberties animation allows for, heightening both the action and humour of the film. In 2.5D, the backgrounds are created and rendered in 3D - giving each scenario a grandeur and stunning look that you don’t see in regular animation. Over these meticulously crafted locations, we overlaid characters that were designed to the smallest detail in 2D - a choice that gave us freedom and speed to animate and tweak as needed. And to create the intriguing contrast between background and foreground we were going for. Throughout this process, we faced a tight timeline, with reviews and tweaks on the same day. Therefore, the choice of 2D for characters was particularly important.