Beauty Brand's Meet-Cute Has a Greasy Twist We Didn't See Coming

Here’s a feel-good story … up to a point, anyway.

To promote a product called Pond’s Men Pore Vacuum, David Madrid and WPP@Unilever give us “Love at First Sight,” the tale of two young professionals in offices across from one another.

“We wanted to highlight the benefits of Pond’s new product without stating the obvious, and instead shared a lighthearted scenario that implies how [it] solves a popular skin concern,” explain executive creative directors André Toledo and Saulo Rocha, both of David Madrid. 

The film depicts a guy who’s just moved into a new office across from a woman he finds attractive. Over time, a pantomimed flirtation develops. All seems well, until, failing to fog a window up enough to send her a message, he decides to use the oil from his face instead.

And boy is his face super greasy. 

“In competitive categories like the men’s segment, a key way to break through to consumers is to take a disruptive approach. In doing this, we have become a fun, irreverent, loved brand—which is growing faster than the others,” says Pond’s global brand director Pavan Bedi.

The market for men’s personal care is expected to total $166 billion in 2022, per Allied Market Research. And maybe it’s an encouraging, if not ideal, sign of equality that the tools being used to get men to invest in this stuff are the same time-honored ones that were used to attract women. It’s hard not to compare this work to all the times a fear of rejection, or shame about one’s bodily functions, was used to get women to do stuff like use Lysol as a douche.

It’s still pretty hilarious to watch a dude make hearts and stuff with face grease, though.

“We keep having fun with Pond’s Men, developing exciting work on a simple proposition, and getting strong business results. It shows that being consistently creative pays off. We will keep pushing until we make Pond’s Men truly iconic,” says managing director David Dahan of WPP@Unilever.

“Love at First Sight” will run for six months across broadcast TV and digital, starting in Indonesia, then spreading globally.

CREDITS

Campaign: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Client: Pond’s
Agency: DAVID Madrid
Global CCO & Partner: Pancho Cassis
Global COO: Sylvia Panico
Executive Creative Director: Saulo Rocha, André Toledo
Creative Director: Fred Bosch
Copywriter: Luis Giraldo
Art Director: Felipe Antonioli 
Group Account Director: María García Herranz
Account Manager: Irene León
Head of Production: Diego Basualdo, Alejandro Falduti

WPP@Unilever

Managing Director: David Dahan
Business Director: Sarah-Cate Agnew
Account Manager: Natasha Wijeweera
Chief Creative Officer: Marco Versolato
Senior Producer: Jenni Stiebel

Pond’s 

Global Brand Vice President: Rohit Bhasin
Global Brand Director: Pavanjit Singh Bedi
Assistant Brand Manager: Esa Mahira
Senior Regional Advertising Producer: Attilio Gianfrancesco
Regional Advertising Producer: Julia Lim

Blur Productions

Director: Zipi 
Executive Producer: Mario Fornies, Laia Vidal
Producer: Olga Valiño
DOP: Nilo Zimmerman
Editor: Tamara Torres
VFX: Glassworks