Sunsilk Seeking Global Life Can't Wait Moments

Super Bowl XLII isn't just going to include football, beer and snack foods this year. It's also going to be the platform to launch a major worldwide promotional campaign from Unilever that's aimed at women!

I've written quite a few posts on Unilever's Dove brand and their Campaign for Real Beauty. Now the company is showcasing it's Sunsilk hair care brand with a little help from three very well-known ladies, Madonna, Shakira and Marilyn Monroe. The Life Can't Wait campaign will kick-off with a TV spot which is slated to run during the Super Bowl's 4th quarter's two minute warning break on Feb. 3. The spot includes film clips of these three female icons that depicts them living their lives to the fullest, making life happen and seizing the moment. It hopes to inspire all women to do the same and directs them to the new promotional website LifeCan'tWait to share their stories online. Watch a preview of the ad here:

The campaign will roll-out worldwide following its Super Bowl debut, premiering in three continents and fifteen countries including India, Brazil, Thailand and Mexico. "We're proud to unveil a powerful global campaign that features three truly inspirational icons," said Stan Cook, Vice President of U.S. Hair Care Operations, Unilever. "They're celebrated not only for their accomplishments but for living with passion and urgency as well as having the confidence to take leaps of faith -- with their lives and their looks. Our hope is to inspire a new generation of women to do the same."

Starting Feb.1st, women can visit the lifecantwait website and post their "Life Can't Wait" moments...which are defined as living life with spontaneity, courage and without regret. The hope is in ultimately creating a global network of women who are making life happen and inspiring each other in the process.  A selection of global winners will be chosen from those entering this consumer-generated content contest. Those that are deemed the most inspiring will then become international Sunsilk icons. One of those winners will represent the U.S. in this global campaign.

"This contest allows girls to be part of a global make-it-happen movement," said Cook. "It gives them the opportunity to have their voice heard around the world while sharing with women everywhere how our campaign is personally-relevant to them."

In the U.S. "Life Can't Wait" will have a presence on marquee billboards in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as well as a continued TV schedule. It will also be supported online at key homepage websites such as AOL, TMZ.COM and MySpace.

The "Life Can't Wait" campaign was created by Desgrippes Gobe, Paris, which pulled from research taken by a survey conducted in six countries with 3,000 women which revealed that twenty-something women find having "good" hair a trigger for seizing opportunities. This article from Advertising Age's Jack Neff gives some insights into Unilever's decision to use Desgrippes Gobe, the first ever "design" agency to have an ad appear on the Super Bowl.

We'll have to wait and see what the buzz will be with this ad as well as the interactive promotional website. So let me know what you think. Unilever ran a heart-tugging 45:sec spot during Super Bowl XL back in 2006 that helped to launch their Campaign for Real Beauty. It appears that they think it's time for the guy brands to move over and make more room for the females! I say bring it on.