Prunelax relaunches using ‘dark’ humour in disruptive new campaign via Five By Five Global

An unapologetic campaign mums called ‘very disruptive, dear’ and ‘a bit offensive’ – developed by independent agency Five by Five Global – will serve to memorably relaunch Actor Pharma’s laxative brand, Prunelax.

The irreverent campaign, made in partnership with director Armand de Saint-Salvy, Vandal and Helium Film launches with the first two spots of a five-part iteration, rolling out across Youtube, Digital, BVOD & social.

Five By Five’s ECD Craig Bailey said the campaign sets out to inform consumers that Prunelax is on another level for the relief of constipation. The ‘Relief’ spots were developed against a strategy hell-bent on driving awareness by cutting through the sanitised health category in a major pivot from traditional pharmaceutical advertising.

Says Bailey: “Taking a brief asking for a campaign that will ‘ruffle some feathers’ is always accepted with cautious optimism. In this case: brave client? Tick. Audacious strategy? Tick. Our mandate to create a campaign communicating that you don’t know true relief, until you’ve tried Prunelax, wilfully manifested into this unapologetically amusing work.

“Most of the time outrageous creative ideas don’t survive the first cut, but our client was bang up for it based on our agreed strategy. No-one has approached the subject of constipation in this way before and it takes a great agency/client relationship to make that happen. We’re inordinately proud of this campaign.”

The campaign uses a bold cinematic style to disarm viewers and help Prunelax authentically own the feeling of relief. The first two spots to lead the charge – ‘Buried’ & ‘Casket’ – both strive to live up to the art of ‘the unexpected twist’.

Bailey said while these were the first of five spots, the same irreverent, humorous approach would be built upon in future executions, “to further reinforce that Prunelax is the custodian of true relief.”

Says Donna Jacobson, marketing manager, Actor Pharma: “We’re living in a strange time with a lot of noise in the media; so it was imperative to find the right agency to help us cleave through it all – Five by Five just got ‘us’ and what we wanted to achieve. We are very excited to launch the Relief campaign, to help us build awareness of Prunelax as the preferred natural laxative brand.”

The campaign launches September 6.

Client: Actor Pharma
Marketing Manager: Donna Jacobson

Creative Agency: Five by Five Global
Strategy Director: Matt Lawton
Executive Creative Director: Craig Bailey
Creative: Craig Bailey
Creative: Nick Donovan
Client Director: Marc Grantham
Production Manager: Amar Narula
Account Manager: Lois Vega
Account Executive: Rukiya Ahad

Production Company: helium.film
Director: Armand de Saint-Salvy
DOP: Jordan Maddocks
Executive Producer: Brenden Johnson
Producer: Benjamin O’Donnell
Casting: Fountainhead Casting

Post Production: Vandal
Editor: Armand de Saint-Salvy
Grading: Marcus Timpson
Flame: Phil Stuart Jones
Sound Design: Nigel Crowley
Music composition: Subvert.tv