The Brief

We were tasked with creating a media pack to raise awareness and increase donations for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of New Zealand. They wanted something that would stand out and create a memorable experience for potential contributors.

Creative Execution

The message ‘Try MS for Free’ is a provocative one and demands further exploration by an audience. So people could view the soap, pick it up, explore it, etc. And the idea remains the same: ‘Try MS for free.’ And this soap will give you the symptoms. People were then absolutely free to donate (if they so wished) to our cause. The ‘product’ was devised simply as a means for our message to cut through and create awareness.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

It’s hard for people who don’t live with MS to understand what the loss of feeling and control feels like. So we created a range of numbing soaps that allow people to get a feeling for what people living with MS deal with on a daily basis. By adding a topical anesthetic to pH neutral soaps, we were able to replicate Parenthesis, a common numbing and tingling feeling in the hands. We used a gallery space to curate a display of the campaign. This was viewable to passers-by on a busy high street and also to customers to the gallery.

Results

Because the added medical ingredient is real, and actually works, the actual product would have to pass FDA guidelines in order for many stores to stock it. So, if you like, we created a working ‘product’ as a means to attract attention, in order to prompt people to donate. Just as any charity campaign would do. No purchase was necessary.