Ariel pocket – stain remover pen
the brief
Back in 2010, during my university design studies, my entire marketing class was handed a case study curated by Saatchi & Saatchi Frankfurt.
The client on the table was the consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, and the project focused on their detergent brand Ariel and their newest product, a pocket stain remover pen.
The assignment was to create a poster campaign that would run nationwide in Germany.
We had exactly three weeks to crack the brief, which demanded we show in a single, impactful visual what the ultimate strength of this pocket pen is and what it actually can do for you.
Once the three weeks were up, the whole course embarked on a little “field trip” to the Saatchi & Saatchi agency headquarters in Frankfurt.
All our results would be presented and we would receive live feedback.
the solution
I selected four distinct scenarios where a pocket stain pen becomes the ultimate lifesaver to get you out of a tight spot caused by an accidental stain.
By tight spot, I mean things like cheating, getting caught spraying graffiti, running late for kindergarten, or quickly covering up mechanical damage right before selling a car.
I set out to represent these scenarios through the visual concept of a digital alarm clock display.
On the dirty, left-hand side, the time is displayed in a bright red font—for instance, 18:45 for the “cheating” scenario — to emphasize the critical urgency triggered by the stain-inducing accident. In this specific case, a woman having an affair spills red wine all over her white blouse, while she is „actually working late“.
Once she arrives back home to her partner, the stain of course is history — entirely thanks to the Ariel Pocket stain pen.
Because of this, the time on the stylized alarm clock display (now 20:15) switches to a reassuring green.
To not say the obvious and let the viewer think about what he‘s just looking at, the situation is summarized in a brief, instantly recognizable equation:
18:45 – sinful wine ————> 20:15 – clean slate
All the other creatives operate on the exact same principle. In a humorous and highly simplified way, they show how the Ariel stain pen provides instant rescue in any life situation, even the most precarious ones.
The campaign claim is: “When things need to move fast.”
Cheating – blouse with wine – not getting caught
Little girl’s dress – jam sandwich – making it to kindergarten on time
Spraying graffiti – hoodie with paint – eliminating the evidence
Covering up car damage before a sale – motor oil on an undershirt – erasing any signs of a botch job
the fun fact
At the conclusion of the presentations, all the student projects were briefly reviewed by a Senior and a Junior Creative Director.
Since it was quite a large class, they could only scratch the surface of each piece. My project was well-received, but I didn’t think much of it at the moment.
As the entire class was gathering downstairs in the lobby to leave, the Senior Creative Director came back down to speak with our professors. A few moments later, he walked over to me, handed me his business card, and told me I should reach out to take their copywriting test, as he believed I had real potential for it.
In my youthful arrogance back then, I brushed it off because I had completely different plans for my life at the time.
Looking back, I realize it was a missed opportunity. That is exactly why I decided to include this student work in my portfolio today. It must have meant something that out of the entire class, I was the only one he approached after the presentation.