Rexona: Stunt City
Lowe Worldwide UK was tasked by Degree (Rexona for Men) to create a campaign that dramatically showcased the product's superior, long-lasting protection. The client aimed to differentiate Rexona for Men in a competitive market and reinforce its promise of not letting men down, targeting active and confident men.
Creative Idea
Depicted a man effortlessly navigating an absurdly dangerous city, showcasing extreme deodorant protection.
Rexona for Men created "Stunt City," an absurdly chaotic urban landscape where a calm protagonist navigates extreme dangers, dramatically demonstrating the deodorant's "over the top protection" by keeping him dry and composed amidst explosions, crashes, and a helicopter-induced downpour.
Commuting Through Chaos in Sydney
One Stunt Every Two Seconds
Director Ivan Zacharias and the team at Lowe London rejected the era's reliance on CGI, opting for an "in-camera" philosophy that required 30 professional stuntmen. Filmed over two weeks in Sydney, Australia, the production was so complex that it was impossible to capture multiple stunts simultaneously due to safety risks. Instead, the team filmed individual sequences - cars being flipped by hand by off-screen grips and actors navigating real explosions - and used The Mill to digitally "clean up" harnesses and safety equipment. The final edit creates a seamless illusion of a city where a stunt occurs every two seconds, featuring a protagonist who remains dry while a helicopter creates a literal downpour.
A Digital First Strategy
In 2005, the campaign broke traditional media rules by launching on the internet 10 minutes before its television debut to spark viral momentum. This early digital focus extended to Flickr, where the agency hosted behind-the-scenes production photos to engage "making-of" enthusiasts. In Mexico, Grupo W expanded the universe into Actioncity, a 3D interactive world where users could train characters to survive the city's hazards.
Market Dominance and Sales Growth
The "Everyman" metaphor - placing men in business suits amidst cinematic carnage - resonated globally. Following the launch, Rexona surged to become the #1 male deodorant brand in Russia and Ukraine. Unilever’s 2005 Annual Report specifically credited the campaign for driving a 6% underlying sales growth in its Personal Care division. By replacing scientific diagrams of sweat glands with high-octane storytelling, the campaign redefined how high-performance products were marketed to men.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Rexona could credibly deliver superior, long-lasting sweat and odor protection for men, enabling confidence in any situation.
Category
Deodorant advertising often showed subtle confidence or simple sweat prevention, lacking dramatic, memorable demonstrations of efficacy.
Customer
Men desired reliable, powerful protection that wouldn't fail them, especially when facing daily pressures or unexpected challenges.
Culture
A cultural appreciation for action-packed entertainment and a desire for resilience against everyday chaos made this hyperbolic approach resonate.
Company
Rexona could credibly deliver superior, long-lasting sweat and odor protection for men, enabling confidence in any situation.
Category
Deodorant advertising often showed subtle confidence or simple sweat prevention, lacking dramatic, memorable demonstrations of efficacy.
Strategy:
Demonstrate product reliability through hyperbolic scenarios to build extreme confidence.
Customer
Men desired reliable, powerful protection that wouldn't fail them, especially when facing daily pressures or unexpected challenges.
Culture
A cultural appreciation for action-packed entertainment and a desire for resilience against everyday chaos made this hyperbolic approach resonate.
Strategy:
Demonstrate product reliability through hyperbolic scenarios to build extreme confidence.
Strategy Technique
Exaggerate to Reveal the Truth
By creating an exaggerated "Stunt City," the campaign humorously reveals the truth of Rexona's powerful protection. It makes the invisible benefit of dryness undeniably visible and memorable in extreme conditions.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Push It to the Limit
The campaign pushes the concept of "protection" to an extreme, absurd level. It showcases the product's efficacy by placing the protagonist in the most challenging, over-the-top scenarios imaginable.
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Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional in its seamless blend of large-scale visual effects and dynamic cinematography with a clear, humorous narrative. The execution of the 'Stunt City' concept is outstanding, making an absurd premise engaging and memorable.
The ad masterfully integrates numerous complex and dangerous-looking stunts into a realistic urban environment, from flipping cars and landing helicopters to a man being engulfed in flames, all executed with high fidelity and comedic timing.
Dynamic camera work, including tracking shots, wide establishing shots, and quick cuts, effectively captures the scale and speed of the action, maintaining a cinematic quality that elevates the commercial to mini-action movie status.
The creation of 'Stunt City' with its detailed urban landscapes and prop work (e.g., personalized police cars, exploding packages) builds a consistent and immersive world where such chaos feels naturally occurring.
The taglines "Over the top protection for under the arms" and "It won't let you down" are perfectly aligned with the visual narrative, cleverly communicating the product benefit through exaggerated, memorable phrasing.
The brilliant synergy between the grand-scale visual effects, the energetic cinematography, and the dry, humorous performance of the protagonist makes the absurd concept land perfectly, delivering both entertainment and a clear product message.
