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Swiffer gets dragged through the mud in the March issue of Canadian House & Home.
An innovative ad uses the home decor magazine’s popular “makeover of the month” feature—devoted to the laundry/mud room in this case—to incorporate the Procter & Gamble brand into the editorial environment.
A double-page spread features before and after images, with one full page picture showing a set of muddy bootprints leading into the revamped room. When readers turn the page, they encounter the same image—except the bootprints are gone and the Swiffer is leaning against the countertop. The accompanying text reads “Swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning.”
“What we love about it is that it’s a surprise for the clever reader,” said Christine Saunders, senior vice-president, group media director for P&G agency Starcom MediaVest Group. “You literally do a double take.”
The ad is the result of extensive collaboration between House & Home Media, parent company of Canadian House & Home, and Starcom. Both the advertising and editorial components were photographed by Canadian House & Home’s editorial team.
“Canadian House & Home was the perfect partner for this because it’s the most prestigious home decor magazine in Canada,” said Saunders. “[House & Home Media president] Lynda Reeves is the one to look for style trends. We thought if we could pull this off in Canadian House & Home, we could make an impact.”
Trevor Thrun, manager of P&G’s homecare division, called the ad “a great example of innovation.”
Magazines are an ideal platform for this type of execution, said Saunders. “It’s such a highly engaging medium and magazine readers are sophisticated,” she said. “It’s a wonderful medium to do surprising things.”
