07.01.11
Forget images of a harried mom spraying her teenage son's bedroom before guests arrive. For Procter & Gamble, that approach is as stale as the odors air fresheners promise to eliminate.
In new television spots for Febreze, created by Grey New York, the brand recruited subjects off the street, who agreed to be blindfolded for what they were told was a scent experiment. Then, in video captured by hidden cameras, the participants were guided into odoriferous settings, like a dilapidated motel room strewn with dirty clothes, a secondhand store filled with threadbare furniture and soiled stuffed animals, and a cramped Chinese restaurant kitchen with whole uncooked fish on counters.
In new television spots for Febreze, created by Grey New York, the brand recruited subjects off the street, who agreed to be blindfolded for what they were told was a scent experiment. Then, in video captured by hidden cameras, the participants were guided into odoriferous settings, like a dilapidated motel room strewn with dirty clothes, a secondhand store filled with threadbare furniture and soiled stuffed animals, and a cramped Chinese restaurant kitchen with whole uncooked fish on counters.
In the commercials, each setting is shown being treated with a Febreze product, like fabric spray or room spray, before the blindfolded subjects are led in.
In one spot, two women approached on the street in the SoHo section of Manhattan are led blindfolded into an abandoned section of a building, where they are seated on an old, torn couch that has clumps of dog hair.
As two dogs dart around the room, they are asked by an off-screen interviewer to take deep breaths and report what they smell.
One of the women says, “Light floral, lilac,” and “Like when you have fresh laundry.” The other adds, “Maybe even a little bit of citrus,” “a little bit beachy” and “wispy white curtains.”
When the blindfolds are removed, the women are shocked at their surroundings.
“What we have done is put our products to the ultimate torture test,” said Jeff Pierce, a spokesman for Febreze. “If Febreze is so strong that it works in this dirty hotel room or on this gross couch, then it’s definitely going to work on my seemingly clean couch, blanket or any fabric in the home.”
The spots break this weekend on YouTube and Facebook and will be shown on television on July 7.
More info: www.facebook.com/febreze
When the blindfolds are removed, the women are shocked at their surroundings.
“What we have done is put our products to the ultimate torture test,” said Jeff Pierce, a spokesman for Febreze. “If Febreze is so strong that it works in this dirty hotel room or on this gross couch, then it’s definitely going to work on my seemingly clean couch, blanket or any fabric in the home.”
The spots break this weekend on YouTube and Facebook and will be shown on television on July 7.
More info: www.facebook.com/febreze