Porter Novelli and Gillette: NoScruf.org –A Viral Campaign Brought to Life

As a means of shifting the current trend away from scruffy faces and once again creating a buzz around the ideal of the clean-shaven man, Gillette teamed up with Porter Novelli New York to create a grassroots-like campaign that would show men ages 18-34 and their partners that clean-shaven is the way to be.

The PR team created a fictional activist group called NoScruf (The National Organization of Social Crusaders Repulsed by Unshaven Faces). PN began the movement online at NoScruf.org and the site got more than 2 million hits throughout the campaign. The movement progressed to a live, staged protest in Manhattan's Herald Square featuring celebrities and female protesters with unshaven armpits and NoScruf branded T-shirts, carrying placards that read, "We won't shave until you do!"

The judges had mixed reactions to this idea, calling it, "Gross, disgusting, and stomach wrenching," but ultimately they agreed it was "wonderful and edgy."

The PR team leveraged the power of men's female companions to create buzz about shaving and the clean-shaven look, while maximizing consumer and media interest by eliminating all Gillette branding from the campaign, making it appear to be a true grassroots effort.

According to the entry, the coverage garnered on the national broadcast of American Morning was due to a CNN producer witnessing the rally on his way to work and believing it was a true political movement taking place before his eyes. He quickly sent a crew to cover it.

Through the mostly humorous coverage of the rally, PN successfully capitalized on research results that showed that those in the 18-34 demographic prefer the Web and television to other media. The effort was also successful in communicating the message of dissatisfaction from women with their scruffy spouses and boyfriends in a variety of different media environments with repeated success.

In the 24 hours after the protest, the Web site received more 65,000 hits, double the amount it had gotten the previous day, and the short film included on the site, In YourDreams, Stubble Boy, was viewed about 7 million times. The campaign leveraged the appeal of celebrity spokespeople Kelly Monaco of General Hospital and Brooke Burke of Rock Star: INXS to further convey the message.

Finalists

  • CKPR and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
    Quitters Can Be Winners: The Nicorette Fruit Chill Million Challenge
  • Coyne PR and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
     Hello My Name is...The Launch of a New Goodyear Blimp
  • Liggett Stashower and Henkel Consumer Adhesives
    Stuck at Prom: Marketing Duck brand duct tape to Teens
  • Porter Novelli and Gillette
    NoScruf.org - A Viral Campaign Brought to Life
  • Weber Shandwick and Allstate Insurance Company
     The Allstate "America's Best Drivers Report"

Honourable Mention

Coyne PR and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company: Hello My Name Is…The Launch of a New Goodyear Blimp

Creating renewed interest in the Goodyear Blimp after 80 years of tradition left Coyne PR looking for an innovative way to garner media attention and extend the life of the campaign. The PR team launched the newest Goodyear airship with a blank "Hello My Name Is . . ." nametag, prompting more than 150 million media impressions throughout the campaign and setting the stage for the high-profile consumer contest that would lead to one lucky consumer getting his name on the blimp while allowing the company to reach its broad demographic. One judge said, "[The campaign] brought emotional engagement to an otherwise functional product." Another judge called the effort "brilliant [for its] use of an unveiling and [its ability to] sustain media and consumer interest."