Omo vs Super Soft

Here’s a bit of an awesome claim to fame. I was a child model. Oh yes. I may look awkward and yoda-esq now but I was one flipping cute child. My biggest and most demanding role was when I played kid-in-corner and had to hopscotch for 5 hours. Tiring as hell. But that critically acclaimed performance of mine may be why I always have, and always will, love Omo. That’s right folks, I was one of the first “dirt is good” kids. (Queue applause).

You can probably understand why now I’m a bit pissed that my legacy has been ruined by their latest print campaign. Bad advert. Creepy advert. And from such an awesome agency. I’m not sure if I 100% get it to be honest. I feel like it definitely needs come copy to explain the concept.

These print adverts feature photos of clothes lingering over a window watching kids plays. What I take from this, after much consideration, is that the clothes are jealous because they can’t play in the mud. On first view all I could think of were creepy ghost children or just clothes that had come alive. It doesn’t help that in one of the adverts the clothes look like they would be suited to an adult male. They just have a haunting, creepy aspect that doesn’t convey the Omo philosophy properly.

I just feel that the emotions attached to Omo and the positive connotations that the brand displays aren’t shown in this advert. When I think of Omo my immediate reaction words are dirty, fun and learning. Not what this advert displays at all.

On the other side of the fabric-cleaning universe you have Stay soft and their ass-kicking latest campaign. They have taken badass icons like Chuck Norris and Hulk Hogan and created their faces out of fabric. The headline “Softens even the toughest” next to their baby faced pack shot just has a lovely fun contrast.  A fun and simple campaign which manages to show the benefit but in an unexpected way.

This simple campaign is exactly what we like to see. Good design, funny concept and good execution. It may not stay true to the brands normal style and theme but that’s what makes it even better. People like looking at an advert and getting it, which is my main issue with the Omo advert. Stay Soft also shows the power of copy in an advert. With a bit of copy the Omo advert could have been easily understandable and possible relatable.