Colgate-Palmolive encourages audiences to smile unapologetically in campaign

Colgate has launched a campaign to challenge traditional beauty standards, telling the audience that they can smile regardless of the type of teeth they have.

The Smile Out Loud campaign features Thai and African influencer Suzie Waddee and beauty queen Ann-Scott Kemmis. Both shun the idea of “perfect” teeth and are shown unapologetically displaying their biggest and brightest smiles in the campaign. Created in collaboration with WPP’s Red Fuse, Colgate-Palmolive hopes to challenge traditional and unrealistic beauty standards, telling the audience that they will be the most beautiful when they smile from the heart.

“This is the first time an oral care brand has addressed the beauty issue with a campaign that inspires a deeper level of self-confidence. For us, oral beauty is not defined by perfection but rather by the unapologetic way in which you smile with whatever type of teeth you have, and with stories of people who live this belief every day. There’s nothing more liberating than unleashing your true self with your loudest, most unguarded smile," said Lyndon Morant, marketing director of IMC.

The company added that this campaign further builds on Colgate’s diversity awareness mission across the region by building on positive reinforcement on otherwise unspoken or taboo subjects. Running in APAC countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the campaign includes content partnerships with local publications in each market that challenge the role of the smile in beauty advertising.

"This campaign demonstrates the bold and authentic point of view that Colgate is becoming known for. Our team has combined Colgate-Palmolive’s business vision and product offering to create some of the category’s most groundbreaking and innovative work, mimicking the product itself," said Kenny Choo, regional executive creative director of Red Fuse for APAC.

Red Fuse launched another campaign for Colgate-Palmolive before in the Philippines, highlighting that true optimism is not just about smiling through adversity, but about having the courage to take action no matter the challenge. The campaign was part of Colgate’s ongoing efforts to focus on equity advertising, bringing to life the brand vision of creating ‘a future for everyone to smile about'. This was launched across the Asia Pacific at the end of 2020, with the "Smile Strong" campaign, where Colgate collaborated in the Philippines with powerful ‘muses’ like Brina Maxino, an inspirational teacher who has down syndrome.

Colgate was also recognised for the #Yimsu campaign in Thailand, empowering people to "yimsu" and smile with resilience during difficult times. This campaign featured a strongly diverse set of inspiring people as well, and the work was awarded Best Advertising to Embrace Gender Equality by Thailand’s Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

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