WOOLITE® Brand Enlists Director Rob Zombie to Help Prevent 'The Torture' of Clothes

PARSIPPANY, N.J., June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Woolite, leading laundry detergent brand of Reckitt Benckiser, today announced the launch of a new multi-million dollar marketing and advertising campaign called "The Torturer" featuring a TV ad directed by horror-film director and heavy metal musician Rob Zombie. The ad premieres today on Facebook.com/WooliteUS and will be broadcast in movie theaters on July 2 and on television starting mid-July through the end of the year. The campaign aims to raise awareness of how some regular detergents can damage clothing over time, whereas Woolite effectively washes clothing while at the same time caring for all types of clothes. The agency of record for this campaign is Euro RSCG Worldwide who was responsible for strategic development, idea conception and overall brand stewardship.

The digital campaign will pre-launch on June 16, with Woolite's new Facebook page where consumers can view the commercial and watch "behind the scenes" footage with Rob Zombie. The Facebook page will also include coupons and will be updated throughout the campaign to feature other consumer promotions.  Broadcast advertising is scheduled to launch on July 18 and run throughout the year.  In the spirit of the horror movie genre that inspired the campaign, cinema advertising will debut in six U.S. markets over the July 4^th holiday weekend.  Additional marketing elements include print and online ads, QR code activations, in-store promotions and product samplings. Together with Euro RSCG Worldwide, Woolite also worked with Iris for digital/social media, Eastwest for consumer promotions and POS, Zenith for media planning and buying and Porter Novelli for public relations outreach.

"We want consumers to see Woolite as they've never seen it before and to realize it's not just for delicates—all of their clothes deserve to be cleaned with care," said Jiri Kulik, General Manager US Household Marketing at Reckitt Benckiser. "Our goal is to show consumers that other detergents may be 'torturing' their wardrobe by leaving dimensional changes like shrinking or fading, all in a bold, eye-opening manner.  Reckitt Benckiser is known for encouraging innovation and thinking outside the box to change the competitive landscape, which is exactly what we've done here."

'The Torturer' ad creative is shot like a movie trailer and incorporates the types of cues and techniques typically seen in horror movies. It features a clothes torturer, who represents the effects of some regular heavy-duty detergents, by dramatizing stretching, fading and shrinking. This takes an uncharacteristic approach from Woolite's previous marketing efforts by becoming the first campaign in the laundry detergent category to be directed and shot by a horror movie director, as well as moving away from television as a primary communications channel.  To capture the horror of the damage detergents can sometimes do to clothes, Woolite wanted to incorporate the types of cues and techniques found in horror movies and Rob Zombie was a natural fit. This is Zombie's first commercial.

"For consumers to view Woolite in a completely new way, we needed to talk to them in a new way," said Rahul Sabnis, Executive Creative Director, Euro RSCG Worldwide. "So we started with an intriguing cultural mash-up: Rob Zombie and Woolite -- a juxtaposition that's completely unique to the category. We then planned the launch of our campaign to begin during the height of the summer movie season.  By using Facebook and movie cinemas as our launch venues, the campaign makes integrated use of media channels and brings to life the horrific truth that regular detergents can torture your clothes."

Reckitt Benckiser (RB) plc is a world leader in household, health and personal care (with U.S. headquarters in Parsippany, NJ) and parent of Woolite, Clearasil and Lysol. For more information about the company, please visit Facebook.com/ReckittBenckiser.

About Woolite

Woolite is a trusted laundry authority. Woolite offers a range of non-harsh, phosphate-free, liquid laundry detergents to cater to all fabric care needs.  For more information, visit Woolite on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/WooliteUS) or www.Woolite.us.  

About Reckitt Benckiser

Reckitt Benckiser (RB) is a world leader in household, health and personal care.

It is a FTSE top 25 company and since 2000 net revenues have doubled and the market cap has quadrupled.  Today it is the global No 1 or No 2 in the majority of its fast-growing categories, driven by an exceptional rate of innovation – typically about 35% of net revenue comes from innovations launched in the prior 3 years. It has a strong portfolio led by 19 global powerbrands which are: Finish, Lysol, Dettol, Vanish, Woolite, Durex, Calgon, Airwick, Harpic, Bang, Mortein, Veet, Nurofen, Clearasil, Strepsils Gaviscon, Mucinex, Scholl and French's, and they account for 69% of  net revenue.

RB people are at the heart of the company's success. They have an intense drive for progress and action and a desire to outperform wherever they focus, including in CSR where the company has the most ambitious corporate responsibility programme in the industry through its Carbon 20 initiative.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, the company employs about 27,000 people worldwide, with operations in over 60 countries and sales in almost 200 countries.

For more information visit RB.COM

For more information, please contact:
Sabrina Michaeli, Porter Novelli
(212) 601-8163 [email protected]

SOURCE Reckitt Benckiser