The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Consul buys Juventus's shirt, washes every logo off — absence wins El Ojo Grand Prix
A washing-machine brand cleans sponsor logos off a club's shirt and leaves its own off too.
Consul (Whirlpool Brasil) · Clube Atlético Juventus
What it had to solve
Consul, a low-interest appliance brand, wanted to promote the launch of its new washing machines and regain relevance in a market losing share.
How it works
Juventus, one of São Paulo's most traditional clubs, turned 100 in 2024 — and its centenary shirt was being covered in sponsor logos like any other. Consul, the Brazilian appliance brand behind the new washing machine launch, did the opposite: it bought the shirt's sponsorship and then cleaned it.
DM9's idea made the product the media. In a live launch, the centenary jersey was pulled from a new Consul washing machine with every brand logo gone — including Consul's own. Only the club crest, player names and numbers remained. Juventus played 20 league games in the pristine shirt in front of live crowds and on open and paid TV, before commercial sponsors returned to the jersey in March.
The absence was the ad. The campaign won the Gran Ojo Media at El Ojo de Iberoamérica 2024, was elected the Best Local Idea of Brazil (with 4 Golds and a Bronze), and earned a Cannes Lions — proof that a washing machine could carry a message more powerfully by showing nothing on it.
Why it lands
- The medium itself is the meaning: a washing machine brand literally cleaning a shirt.
- Giving the club its unsponsored shirt back built goodwill fans could feel, not just see.
- The restraint — leaving Consul's own logo off — made the gesture credible.
- It converted a low-interest product category into a culturally significant act.
What it did
The gesture won the 2024 El Ojo Media Grand Prix, was elected Best Local Idea of Brazil at El Ojo 2024 (plus 4 Golds and a Bronze), took a Cannes Lions award, and turned a washing machine into a cultural statement.
What you can take
When attention is saturated, subtraction can out-shout addition: buy the loudest surface and then conspicuously refuse to use it.
Since then
The clean-shirt period was finite by design: Juventus's commercial deals returned in March 2024, which made the clean run a scarce, newsworthy moment rather than a permanent state. The campaign's awards trail continued through El Ojo 2024 and Cannes, and Consul kept extending the centenary partnership with follow-up products.
Sources
- DM9 alcanza el Gran Ojo Media por Clean Sponsorship de Consul
- "Clean Sponsorship", la Mejor Idea de Brasil
- Clean Sponsorship — D&AD Awards Archive
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