Monster Stains

Aardman and Kode Media have come together for a new advertisement for Persil to prove that "dirt is good".

I found this ad so creative, I love it. The whole animation is drawn on white T-shirts, , which even more imaginatively, were hand-drawn using products that are renowned for making "monster"stains;

From the puns to the animation, there are so many creative and original elements to this commercial, its brilliant.

"Every Stain Tells a Story"

This line defines the whole advert, its a very effective slogan. When children come in from playing outside, covered in stains, each stain remains a marker for where they fell over, what they spilt, what they rubbed against. The stains are evidence of fun, evidence of adventure. Persil promotes the goodness of dirt, to expose how efficiently they can get rid of it.

In this advert, the stains actually do tell a story. A story of two monsters (Stain monsters/Monster stains) going on an adventure across a bridge. Just when we think one monster has fallen to meet his demise, he find he has wings and rises up from the clouds, then they both fly off together. These monsters represent 2 children playing, utilising their imaginations creating their own stories in their heads.

I love the whole style that the stains on the T-Shirts creates, its messy, reflective of the messy nature of children. But it also creates this unique child-like aesthetic. The style and character design looks as if it has been scribbled and drawn by a child (but made more elaborate), yet again reflecting children, the primary reason adults buy persil. 

If the animation of the monsters was played on screen with no backstory, we would  assume it just a regular hand-drawn animation with a quirky style. But the impact of knowing the backstory is profound, seeing the concoction of natural stains being made and put into an art palette as if they are paints. I also love the introduction to the animation, how he paints the butterfly, washes the shirt, paints it, washes it, it gets faster and faster, till the butterfly starts to come to life. This highlights the repetitive nature of animation, but also the magic of it, drawings coming to life right before you. It also highlights the repetitive ritual (especially if you have kids) of washing your clothes. However there is also some clever subliminal advertising here, telling you to wash your clothes a lot, wash them with persil, so you use it more and buy more in the process.

I feel the animated sequence of the monsters also has a hidden message behind it. The monsters overcome the barrier of falling by learning to fly, like parents can overcome the barrier of stains, with persil's power of stain removal.

All in all, this is a very successful piece of advertisement in my opinion.