This Brazilian Cleaning Brand Cleans the Dirtiest House in the World with the 'Thing'

The cleaning products category has global demand, emphasising high performance, quality, and technology in the service of cleanliness. 

Okay, but how do we showcase all this memorably, relying on the power of entertainment to capture consumers' attention? Well, inviting someone who feels the dirt of the filthiest house in the world on their skin. Not precisely someone, but 'THE THING'. 

One of Brazil's largest household company brands, Ypê, did this with their agency DPZ. If the mission is to present a complete solution for house cleaning, they did it by recreating a beloved classic among consumers. 

In the biggest campaign for Ypê, the iconic character, tired of being in a place with horrifying and hard-to-remove dirt filthiness, orders a box of Ypê complete line of products. This deep and complete clean is closely monitored by the neighbour, who, while snooping around, stumbles upon a secret passage and falls into the house. 

"We are driven by a restlessness to seek innovation and creativity in everything we do. That's why we aim to surprise the audience with this unique feature to support our advertising efforts: the character Thing against the scary dirt," emphasises Cesar Nicolau, Ypê's marketing director. 

Benjamin Yung, Co-CEO of DPZ, adds, "We decided to put the products to the ultimate test by cleaning the 'dirtiest house in the world,' and no one is better suited for this than 'THE THING'." 

Directed by JC Feyer of Hungry Man, the production involved a team of over 200 professionals in a real house with various settings transformed, where three actors took turns playing THING under the guidance of an extraordinary cast coach just for the character. 

Each shot had to be filmed multiple times, and Motion Control was used for this purpose: a robotic arm that combines software and hardware to record and reproduce the camera's movements multiple times. Post-production of the film took close to two months to work on all the shots needed.

"It's a significant responsibility to represent such a beloved and well-known character in advertising, with so many fans. At the same time, it allows us, as storytellers, to depart from the usual narrative of advertising films. We had to be precise and meticulous to build this universe in all stages of the process," says JC Feyer, the film's director. 

To create buzz on social media before the campaign's launch, 'Thing' appeared in the haunted house and a supermarket where a security camera captured a cart filled with the brand's products passing through the aisle. At the same time, objects 'mysteriously' fell from the shelves. 

"In the days leading up to the launch, we played with this supernatural theme to generate even more conversation on social media, and we took advantage of a Friday the 13th to debut the campaign," says Leandro Dolfini, DPZ's creative director.