VII. Liberating Personal Care

Photograph by Herbert List of museum goers looking at 'The Farnese Hercules' in Naples, 1961.

Concept and copy for a global range campaign activated across retail, print, digital, and social for Aesop’s Personal Care, coinciding with the launch of new Roll-On Deodorants.

With a generous splash of levity and wit, creative was inspired by the moment when we are freshly scrubbed from the shower, comfortable in our own skin, natural, and liberated.

To express this idea of liberation, we looked to the symbolic confidence of the nude figure with a concept that explored the freedom of uninhibited nudity and the confidence that comes with the right personal care products.

Product imagery created to evoke the style, texture, and atmosphere of ‘pronkstilleven’ Dutch still life paintings.

Product imagery created to evoke the style, texture, and atmosphere of ‘pronkstilleven’ Dutch still life paintings.

Still life imagery was realized by photographer Will Anderson. Thematic imagery from renowned German photographer Herbert List, Magnum Photos.

Screen capture of the campaign takeover of aesop.com, featuring product imagery and the campaign image by Herbert List.

Screen capture of the campaign takeover of aesop.com, featuring product imagery and the campaign image by Herbert List.

Two phoen screens on a burgundy background showing Aesop Instagram posts promoting the campaign.

Aesop campaign emails, launching the personal care selection.

The Primary headlines ‘Liberating personal care’ & ‘For the humble exhibitionist’ worked in concert with the campaign visuals to infer (tongue firmly in cheek) that Aesop might allow you to feel as confident as the statue, free from worries, inhibitions, and the weight of clothes.

They also wryly hint at the fine balance between narcissism and our need for attention and acceptance.

Window merchandising for the campaign showing a vinyl of the headline: Liberating personal care, accompanied by ceramic busts and Aesop bottles.

Window merchandising for the campaign showing a vinyl of the headline: Liberating personal care, accompanied by ceramic busts and Aesop bottles.

Streetscape showing a nude sculpture in the windows of Aesop Duke of York, London.

The Farnese Hercules image overlaid with copy describing Aesop's approach to personal care.

Copy: Jack Ball-Smith
Art Direction: Amy Kim
Photography: Will Anderson, Herbert List (Magnum Photos)