L’Oreal Canada‘s Vichy brand is taking a light-hearted approach to the serious problem of pimples.
To promote Vichy’s new Normaderm hydrating acne care, Publicis Montreal created six online ads featuring three characters: Emily, Mary and Simon. They describe their travails with unexpected skin breakouts, for example, before a job interview or first date. The one-minute ads are posted on Vichy’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
“Acne is a touchy subject,” said Christine Cook, co-creative director at Publicis Montreal. The videos “are a way for us to stand out and give tongue-in-cheek humour” to unexpected acne-related scenarios.
For example, in “Face to face with my acne,” Mary attempts to hide her pimples during a job interview, while “Pimples on a first date” shows Emily screaming in the mirror, then applying bright pink lipstick to divert attention away from her pimples.
“I think people are having fun with the theme and the way we’re exaggerating,” said Cook. “The date, for example, it’s an insight that the last thing you would want is a pimple on a date, so we just took that idea and exaggerated it and had a lot of fun with it.”
Normaderm is targeted at adults 20-30 with acne problems who are looking for a long-term solution to their skin problems, said Cook. The brand is driving viewers to its Facebook page and YouTube channels with banner ads.
