Lever plans Persil ‘Dirt Is Good’ for UK

Lever Fabergé is looking at introducing the global “Dirt Is Good” ad campaign for its UK Persil brand.

The work was launched in much of the world last year, by parent company Unilever’s global roster agency Lowe, although it was not expected to be used in the UK, where the Persil account is handled by J Walter Thompson. Persil is known as Omo in most markets, as Skip in France and as Wisk in the US.

The move could see the end of Persil’s current string of ads, featuring footballer Michael Owen. The news comes after chairman Niall FitzGerald mentioned the campaign at Unilever’s second-quarter results announcement earlier this month.

He said: “Our Omo ‘Dirt Is Good’ campaign is being deployed across the world, including in the US on Wisk.” Lever Fabergé has also trademarked the slogan for use in the UK.

A Lever Fabergé spokesman says the UK Persil ads already use a similar philosophy, although he refuses to speculate about the nature of any future campaigns.