Love Is Messy - Vow To Clean

Kicking off this year's wedding season, Essity’s kitchen roll brand, Plenty, is encouraging the nation to commit to clean for each other through a new campaign showing real couples making “vows to clean” at their weddings, reframing cleaning as part of the foundation of a long and happy relationship.

As the latest instalment of Plenty “Love is Messy” platform by AMV BBDO, the campaign “Vow To Clean” got real engaged couples who were willing to make the ultimate commitment and include a vow to clean in their wedding vows. The brand identified the couples through a fun and playful activation released in February off the back of the insight that cleaning, rather than traditional romantic displays of love, is a fundamental part of a happy and healthy long-term relationship.

The kitchen roll aisle is facing recruitment challenges, but category brand leader Plenty wanted to put itself back onto shopping lists as the brand that has a product for every household need. Plenty commissioned a survey of 1000 British people in relationships revealing how much cleaning is seen as an act of love - with 3 in 4* of people believing that cleaning is a fundamental part of a healthy relationship. This supported a Harvard study** which found housework is the top cause of 1 in 4 marriages ending.

The research found that 72% of Brits believe that a partner proactively cleaning around the house is a display of love - one that is particularly important for the younger generation (80%+). And 71% of them believe cleaning is a fundamental part of a healthy cohabitating relationship - 1 in 3 even believe that cleaning should be added as a vow in marriage. As a brand that believes healthier relationships with mess means healthier relationships with each other, the idea to encourage the nation to make a Vow to Clean felt just right.

Following the call for British couples to take part in this campaign changing their vows, the three wedding celebrations funded by Plenty took place in London in March. Danny & Genevieve, Tinuke & Abel and Rob & Mel exchanged their vows to clean for each other in front of their friends and family, and their big day has now become a series of digital and social ads of 90, 15 and 10 seconds.

“Rob, I promise to always clean away the colonies of mould that spring from the glass you always leave by the bed”, vows Mel. “I’ll always wipe up the juice you claim you never spill, the crumbs you never see”, promises Abel. “You didn’t spill the tea on the sofa. We did”, remarks Danny.

Essity Global Marketing & Communications Director, Consumer Tissue Martina Poulopati says, “Plenty, with an innovative portfolio ranging from Everyday, Original to MAX and Flexisheets, is a brand that's trusted in millions of households in the UK & Ireland to deal with everyday mess efficiently. With the Love is Messy platform, we've shown how mess is part of all of our relationships. We've reframed cleaning as an act of love and care for each other. Tissue is a category that is often seen as commoditized, unengaging, lacking emotion, difficult to connect with consumers. With Vow to Clean, we have proven once again that our dedication to understanding consumers and connecting with them personally and deeply surpasses category norms to lead to stronger brand engagement and trust.”

AMV BBDO creatives behind the work Ben Smith, Dan Kennard and Prabhu Wignarajah say, “Having spent many hours cleaning up dog pee, baby vom and worse in the name of love, we know that cleaning for your partner really does show you’re a keeper. This idea repositions Plenty as something more authentically romantic than flowers, chocolates, or lingerie. And we’re delighted these couples were bold enough to agree with us and make this commitment at the altar.”

Omnicom sister company Ketchum is the PR agency supporting the work.