This Brazilian Brand Uses People to Advertise Its Sun Cream

Given the recent heat waves in Brazil, the Caladryl brand, from the pharmaceutical company EMS, took to the streets of the city of São Paulo and the south coast with an unusual marketing guerrilla. 

The campaign, created by the agency We, uses sunburned models, with a lot of redness on their skin. The phrases “Sunburned skin? Better use Caladryl” and “Got burned in the sun? Better use Caladryl”, in addition to the design of the product packaging, appear as a white mark on the actors’ bodies.

The guerrilla took place in Parque Villa-Lobos and Avenida Paulista, in the capital, and Praia Grande, on the south coast. The idea was based on the concept of OOH (out of home). In this case, however, the agency developed what was named 'OOHuman' (out of human).

The campaign was created to publicise the brand's new positioning after two weeks of intense heat, in which many people went to beaches and open parks and were exposed to the sun.

"We start from the reasoning that the sun is harmful to the skin on several occasions, which requires constant skincare from people, regardless of whether they are wearing a bikini, suit, or any other clothing. With the recent heat waves, We thought it would be a good opportunity to bring this reflection", comments Armando Araujo, chief creative officer at We.

“Summer 2024 was the first in which Caladryl carried out a robust communication campaign with consumers, invested in television media, and was present in most pharmacies in Brazil", concludes Cinthia Ribeiro, director of marketing and OTC sales at EMS.

Caladryl is a cream that has been on the Brazilian market since 1967 and provides relief from the symptoms of burns or skin irritation after periods of long exposure to the sun. In 2021, EMS purchased the commercial and production rights to the brand.