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.
