The Client
Citizen Relations are an international, award-winning public relations and integrated communications agency. Their mission is to help brands listen, learn act and thrive. P&G - Fairy - Fairy is a British brand of washing-up liquid, the manufacturer owned by the American company Procter & Gamble. the West Thurrock factory, in England. Fairy liquid is traditionally green, prompting the well-known advertising jingle "Now hands that do dishes can feel as soft as your face with mild green Fairy Liquid".
The Challenge
P&G is a company that strives to create a world free from bias – where everyone is included, valued and free to be themselves. Which is why, for Pride season, Fairy partnered with LGBTQ+ charity akt and launched a limited edition FAIR bottle, in which FAIRY lost it’s Y. Why? Because FAIRY wants us to be FAIR. In tandem with the limited edition FAIR bottle launch, Fair published a report, to look at life for LGBTQ+ family members in the UK today and how that has changed since Fairy entered family homes in the 1950s. Our client, Citizen Relations came to Preen to help create a film to accompany this report. The film was to include their ambassador, actor and singer Duncan James, Scott Popham, Senior Communications Manager, P&G, Tim Sigsworth MBE, CEO of akt and needed to tell the story behind the launch of the new FAIR bottle and the essential work of the akt charity.
The Solution
A sense of warmth and acceptance are two feelings we knew we wanted the viewer to feel after watching the P&G ‘Fair’ film. Choosing a bright, welcoming kitchen environment as our filming location allowed us to set up the ‘cup of tea and a chat’ shots we see between Duncan James and his mum. The casual, ‘real’ nature of this scenario reflects P&G and akt’s desire to make the small moments the ones of the greatest importance to those individuals coming out to their families. Our role as filmmakers was to capture the passion for the P&G ‘Fair’ project felt by those involved. Scott Popham, Senior Communications Manager, P&G, Tim Sigsworth MBE, CEO of akt and Actor and Singer Duncan James, each have their own personal journey and our producer/ interviewer created an open environment in which they felt comfortable to share these stories. Ensuring our contributors were relaxed and comfortable meant we captured lovely comments such as; ‘LGBT people are just like the rest of us, we all wash up.’ and more emotional moments with Tim recalling a story of ‘a teen that said ‘I got a hug off my mum’ and that was true success to them, and I think that’s so lovely.’ By including Duncan James’ mum in the film we were able to bring to life the dynamic of an accepting and loving parent and her LGBTQ son, Duncan James. Their warm and loving conversation juxtaposed against stories of LGBTQ+ teens being forced to live on the streets after not being accepted by their families really brought home the need for charities like akt and the importance of support from large companies like P&G.
"We've had so many comments from our colleagues at P&G about how much they love the video. Many of their colleagues have been asking re. who did the production as they're so impressed with the quality."
Stephanie O'Grady, Associate Director, Citizen Relations PR
Stephanie O'Grady, Associate Director, Citizen Relations PR