Rock Face calls on men to join 'The Great Unwashed'

Rock Face, which claims to be the UK’s fastest-growing deodorant brand for men, is urging men to boycott the showers at this year’s Reading and Leeds festivals and use his new 72-hour antiperspirant instead, in the company’s first multichannel campaign.

“The Great Unwashed” has been created by Unbound, and is being fronted by the Rock Face CEO, James Wilkinson, who has today posted a video on social media. He has also shared a petition hosted on Change.org and an open letter asking Festival Republic, the organisers of Reading and Leeds Festivals, for better campsite facilities.

The brand wants male festivalgoers to proudly join The Great Unwashed, and “take a stand”. The campaign concept was born out of Rock Face’s brand positioning to be “a rock for men”, giving them the confidence to smell fresh and be themselves, whatever life throws at them.

The campaign is being supported by OOH, paid social, influencer partnerships delivered by Lasting Lemons, and coordinated comms using the Rock Face CRM system.

Wilkinson said: “It’s been a long, hot summer and a punishing time for our armpits. During festival season, it only gets tougher, but that shouldn’t stop men from smelling fresh and feeling confident. They shouldn’t need to stand in long queues and miss their favourite music. Instead of simply saying our new deodorants give 72-hour protection, we’re having a bit of fun and asking people to stick it to the showers for three days. Here’s to putting the great in The Great Unwashed and, who knows, maybe better festival showers next summer…”

Unbound creative partner Austin Hamilton added: “Creatively, this was really fun. Men are already skipping the showers at festivals, so we’re just jumping on to a behaviour that already exists and making it our own to announce the launch of a new product. And repurposing an archaic term like ‘The Great Unwashed’ for our own, irreverent purposes added a layer of gravitas to a pretty silly idea.”