Soap Suds Invade NYC in Method's Bubbly Block Party

Tons of suds rain down and wash across Manhattan streets, as locals joyously bounce around in the bubbly brew.

Method, a provider of home cleaning and personal care products, presents such merry madness in a short film developed with creative studio Uncommon and director Jonathan Alric.

Versions of the two-minute foam-fest have generated several million views since they began sloshing across screens two weeks ago:

OK, nothing even remotely orgasmic to see there! And the grocery-store crew won’t have to mop down those aisles. The foam in that scene is real, and 95 percent of the ad’s wet and wild effects were achieved in-camera.

It’s a metaphor for sustainable change, we’re told, with the raucous rocker “Must I Evolve” by Jarvis Cocker driving that point home:

In a blog post, Uncommon explains: “This campaign is meant to inspire that contagious curiosity that blooms when you imagine new possibilities and take the first simple step towards making them a reality. Method is inviting a broad community into their mission of building a better, more fulfilled world by bridging intention and impact and putting change within reach of everyone.”

Fair enough, and certainly on brand, as Method employs 100 percent recycled plastic containers and refillable aluminum bottles. But mostly it’s a fun frolic, recalling frothy days of yore, when everyone from Mick Jagger to Bobby Brady cleaned up real good.

Uncommon shot over four days at a studio in Bulgaria. The cast and crew strove to create a “cathartic music festival” atmosphere awash in sound and motion, agency creative directors Tom Houser and Christopher Keatinge tell Muse. The anthemic music track, they say, captures the “bamboozled, confused” vibe of Covid times, while holding out hope for a fresh start.

Other campaign elements include a suite of social stories shot on iPhones…

…plus stickers and an invitation for folks to use the #MethodForChange hashtag and discuss how they’d help create “a better, brighter tomorrow.”

And here’s the print and OOH work featuring Bobby Doherty’s aptly effervescent photography:

Uncommom’s reel is awash in slick commercials these days. Other examples include its cinematic “Drama vs. Reality” series for ITV, and this deeply felt WWF tale of an elephant lost in London. (You know, it just might take a ton of soap to vanquish the mammoth mess that pachyderm left behind.)

CREDITS

Project name: Must I Evolve? Method for Change.
Client: Method
Creative Studio: Uncommon
Director: Jonathan Alric from The Blaze
Prod Company: Iconoclast
DOP: Paul Özgür
Prod Company Producer: Jane Lloyd
EP: Guy Rolfe
Editor: Adriana Legay at Stitch
Sound & Music: Soundtree
Sound Design & Mix: Henning Knoepfel
Additional Music: Ben Jones & Luis Almau
Music Supervision: Neil Athale
Music Track: ‘Must I Evolve?’ by JARV IS…
Grade: Matthieu Toullet at MPC
Post Production: Framestore
Flame Lead: Paul O’Brien
Post Producer: Ben Stell