Unilever launched a fake product to promote gender neutrality in the distribution of household chores in India.
Objective
In India, urban men bragged about doing household chores to help their wives because they believed that chores weren't their assigned job.
When Unilever's dishwash liquid, Vim, launched its fake dishwashing product, "Vim Black," the company deliberately used male influencers known for their machismo to give dishwashing a brag-tag to let the Indian society see the flaw in bragging about not helping with household chores. Unilever then had female influencers reveal that it was a fake product.
With Unilever's fake launch, the goal was to bring the audience's attention to the bragging, and then to reinforce its stance against gender inequality related to household chores. Unilever sparked a conversation and as expected its urban audiences across the nation responded — as it's hard to ignore a dishwash liquid aimed specifically at men.
Context
According to a 2022 research study, 40 percent of Indians said that marriage is more satisfying if the husband provides for the family and the wife takes care of the house. This figure reveals an age-old patriarchal system that maintains that males are the breadwinners and females are the designated caregivers.
As a result, women spend about 7.2 hours daily on domestic work as per a time use survey. Even working women spend twice the amount of time on unpaid domestic work compared to working men. Research by IIM Ahmedabad defined this problem as "time poverty." Household chores are the primary reason why the number of working women is less than 20 percent in India.
Unilever aimed for society — mainly men — to realize that household chores are an equal responsibility and rallied for chore neutrality.
Target Audience
Unilever found that when urban men do household chores, they consider it an extra help to the women in their household — and brag. Unilever thus decided to target the bragging men of India who believed that chores weren't their assigned job. This nuanced conversation needed a strategic approach that would provoke umbrage.
Hence, Unilever made deliberate use of male influencers known for their masculine image to promote dishwashing as a "brag-worthy" task. At the same time, female influencers were engaged to debunk the false narrative, labeling it as a deceptive concept. This staged launch was intended to rally the audience, draw attention to the issue, and discourage the bragging culture. The subsequent reveal reinforced Unilever's commitment to promoting household chore neutrality without the need for boastfulness. Unilever's strategy ignited widespread interest among urban audiences nationwide.
Creative and Media Strategy
Unilever's Vim was at a steady growth before the real campaign objective was revealed. Unilever's campaign achieved the following:
