The new campaign flies in the face of traditional laundry wisdom and features no clean clothes or demonstrations of how the fabric releases stains.
Instead, a 60-second spot, created by Lowe & Partners, uses the strapline "dirt is good" and shows children playing on a beach, collecting seaweed and driftwood to build a giant whale. A voiceover tells viewers: "Kids think differently about getting their clothes dirty. From today, we invite you to do the same. Because what you see here isn't kids creating dirty clothes. It's simply kids creating. That's why, at Omo, we believe dirt is good."
The ad will launch today in Europe and reports say that it will be shown in the US, where the product is called Wisk, by the end of the year. There are no plans currently to show the ad in the UK, where Omo is known as Persil. The Persil account is held by J Walter Thompson in London.
David Arkwright, global brand director for Unilever laundry, said: "Our mission is to build a truly differentiated brand globally with breakthrough creative work. Our team across the world sees no reason why soap powder advertising should be formulaic and boring."
The ad was shot in Brazil, created by Adrian Holmes and David Christensen in Lowe's London office. It was directed by Gregor Nicholas through @radicalmedia.
In the UK, Unilever's Persil and Procter & Gamble's Ariel brands lead the market, with Surf, Fairy, Bold and Daz competing for third place.
Daz has also updated its advertising recently, abandoning its long-running doorstep challenge campaign in favour of soap opera-themed ads created by Leo Burnett.
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