GLAD Gives Us a Reason to Smile About Garbage
No one likes to think about garbage. If garbage is on your mind, it probably means something went wrong, and you’ve got a huge mess on your hands.
That’s the challenge for a brand like GLAD: How do you get Canadian consumers to like your brand – and even justify paying a premium price for your products – when they’d rather keep you out of sight, smell and mind?
For GLAD, the answer is in demonstrating the strength of its products – making people realize that their bags are strong enough to handle the really tough jobs. And they’re doing it in a way that stands out for the CPG category. “Big Lift” continues GLAD’s focus on the category expert, who deals with garbage on a daily basis and appreciates bags that don’t break or leak – the trash collector.
For its new campaign, GLAD brings back the garbage man first introduced in last year’s “Thank You” campaign, who demonstrates the benefits of GLAD products in unexpected ways. Directed by the quirky comedy duo The Perlorian Brothers, the campaign upends what has traditionally been a staid advertising category by introducing a bit of zany humour.
“Glad has been a trusted leader in Canadian homes for decades,” said Matt Kohler, Marketing VP for The Clorox Company, which owns the Glad brand. “We want to build on that trust. Although it’s a low-engagement category, we can reach consumers through creative and engaging storytelling.”
The new spot, entitled “Big Lift,” opens on a man stepping out of his house on his way to work, only to encounter his garbage man, standing at the end of his driveway.
As orchestral music swells in the background, you notice that the garbage collector isn’t just taking the bags and throwing them in the truck. Instead, he’s got one in each hand, and is heaving them above his head. It’s an unexpected workout from a man who fully trusts that these bags won’t break over his head.
As the confused homeowner then slowly retreats back inside his house and watches from behind a curtain, the garbage man continues performing “feats of strength,” like arm curls, with the bags. The spot concludes with the garbage man proudly lying on the ground and embracing the GLAD bag, accompanied by the tagline “Guaranteed Strong.”
“Reaching for a garbage bag solution that is just ‘good enough’ can have messy consequences for customers,” says Jeff Hilts from FCB Canada. “They know they can count on GLAD bags because they’re Guaranteed Strong. We wanted to demonstrate the strength in a way that surprises consumers and presents GLAD products in a different light.”
“Big Lift” runs from January 2, 2019 through to June 2, 2019.
