First Brylcreem viral push develops press ad theme

Sara Lee Household & Body Care is launching its first viral marketing campaign for Brylcreem.

The online drive is inspired by a press advertisement for new Brylcreem product Easy Wash Wax, where a man is seen sitting in the middle of a car wash, washing his hair. The idea is to drive home the point that it would be a lot easier for him to get the wax out of his hair if he used the new product.

The viral marketing execution, entitled “Wax on wax off”, attempts to bring the print ad to life and generate the feel of a TV commercial. It comprises a 15-second video clip, produced in “found footage” style.

The concept was devised by Frank PR and produced by The Viral Factory. The press ad was created by WCRS.

Julie Baker, marketing director at Sara Lee, says: “The press ads got everyone thinking about the possibilities of what would happen if someone actually tried this in real life. The Internet, and e-mail in particular, is the perfect medium for the results to be communicated.”

In addition to being seeded across various e-mail databases, the execution is being sent out to a database of 2,500 “highly viral people” which has been assembled by Frank PR. It is also available for download from Punchbaby.com, which acts as a distribution platform for viral e-mails.