Provocative pose for Vitasoy TV ad

Saatchi & Saatchi has adopted a controversial approach in putting

health on the public agenda in Hong Kong.

Its new television campaign for Vitasoy's Calciplus brand - a healthy

soy drink - features people in Hong Kong going about their daily lives

in their underwear.

Saatchis regional executive creative director Craig Davis said the TVC

was deliberately produced to be provocative because "by and large,

people in Hong Kong are not health conscious" and "they only think about

health when they fall sick".

This idea is underlined by the theme line: "When you're healthy, your

body is the last thing on your mind. Calciplus. High Calcium. Low

fat".

"Health commercials usually show young, energetic people happily leaping

around amid a visually striking backdrop, but this doesn't cut it

anymore," Mr Davis told MEDIA.

"This is why we have chosen to go the provocative route. We show people

from all walks of life doing things in public in their underwear. This

symbolises that they are comfortable with themselves, their body and

their health," he added.

As the commercial unfolds, we hear the thoughts running through the

minds of the main characters.

A housewife contemplates what to cook for dinner as she stands in a wet

market and a pregnant woman wonders when her baby will stop kicking

her.

"The fact is that Calciplus is a very good product. But we knew that a

conventional health message would be too easy to dismiss. This campaign

positions the brand as an easy, everyday solution to maintaining a

healthy, happy body," said Mr Davis.

The campaign was created by David Tsui of Moviola and shot using

ordinary people rather than superfit models.