P&G’s Tide Activates NFL Partnership Prior To Kick-Off Via #TurnToCold Campaign

Ahead of the start of the 2021/22 season, P&G laundry detergent brand Tide has partnered with the NFL on a fresh strand of its eco- focused efforts to encourage consumers to wash clothes in cold water.

The blended cause and marketing campaign is built around incentivising football fans to enter a contest to win a ‘Tide Cold Washer’: a speaking washing machine that is voiced by a team of 10 NFL players – including Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (who is nicknamed ‘Matty Ice’) who also fronts the campaign’s hero television commercial.

A further strand of the activation sees a select group of P&G partner NFL teams turn their own official logos blue, use blue lights during games and share their team-customised washing machines on social.

Launched on 31 August, the hero spot is titled ‘Tide Cold Callers: The NFL is calling’ and is supported by an addition infomercial style film for the Tide Cold Washer itself which encourages viewers and fans to visit the Tide.com website to enter for a chance to win.

The creative also features celebrities Ice-T and Stone Cold Steve Austin: who have both previously appeared in a series of Tide spots.

The campaign was created with agency Saatchi & Saatchi NY and spans broadcast TV, online video, digital, social, radio and in-store.

This Tide campaign sees the P&G brand deliver its environmentally focused message to the 80 million US households which watch the NFL as it expands its ongoing #TurnToCold initiative into its sponsorship properties. Tide claims that if NFL fans make the switch it will result in 16 billion loads of more eco-friendly laundry which would reduce an amount of greenhouse gas emissions equal to removing more than one million cars from the road for a year.

“Meeting consumers in unexpected ways [with] different influential voices like those in the NFL to share those benefits is another way that we can increase the resonance [of the campaign],” said Tide Brand Director Alex Perez. “Pairing up the right benefits with the right messaging with the right kind of vehicle to get in front of people ultimately drives a sustainable habit change.”

Comment:

#TurnCold is just one part of the P&G brand’s broad ‘2030 Ambition’ environmental pledge. As well as aiming to increase the number of loads washed in cold water by US households to three out of four, other strand of an umbrella mission based around delivering purpose-driven messages about sustainability while marketing its product. As well as the environmental benefits, Tide also claims that switching to cold can save the average consumer $150-a-year on energy bills and that clothes last longer and look brighter.