Dulux paints school canteens yellow — flies hate it, 5,000+ kids benefit

Indonesia's hot, humid climate makes open-air school canteens a breeding ground for flies, which transmit up to 65 diseases including typhoid and cholera; more than 100 food-poisoning cases hit school canteens in two years. Dulux, a paint brand, wanted to solve a community health problem with its product rather than just advertise.

Use the brand's own product — yellow paint — as a fly repellent, because flies avoid yellow, turning every repainted canteen into living proof of Dulux's purpose.

Innocean ran an experiment placing food on two tables, one painted yellow — flies stayed off the yellow one for two hours. The team then repainted tables, benches, walls and even cups across school canteens in one-day makeovers, and built a website where schools could register for free transformations.

More than 5,000 students benefited in the first two months; the 'yellow effect' spread to cups, containers and aprons, and in 2024 the project expanded to other countries. It won a D&AD Yellow Pencil, a Clio Health Bronze and Gold at MAD Stars 2024.

Indonesia's hot, humid climate makes its open-air school canteens a paradise for flies, which transmit up to 65 diseases including deadly typhoid. Children eating in those canteens are highly vulnerable, and more than 100 food-poisoning cases were reported in school canteens over two years.

Dulux, a paint brand, decided to help through its own product. Research found that flies hate yellow, so Innocean Indonesia ran a simple test: food on two wooden tables, one painted vibrant yellow. For two hours, not a single fly approached the yellow table.

The team then transformed school canteens — tables, benches, walls and even cups painted yellow — in one-day makeovers before school opened. They also built a website where schools across the country could register for free transformations, spreading the project beyond the first canteens.

More than 5,000 students benefited within two months of the October 2023 launch, and the 'yellow effect' spread to plates, containers and aprons. The campaign won a D&AD Yellow Pencil for Spatial Design, a Clio Health Bronze, and Gold at MAD Stars 2024, and expanded to more countries in 2024.

It turned the brand's own product — paint — into the entire solution, so no advertising layer was needed to explain the message.

The insight was scientific and falsifiable: a two-hour table experiment proved flies avoid yellow before the canteens were repainted.

The fix was free and reproducible: any school could register on the website, turning a one-off stunt into a scalable program.

It addressed a concrete health threat to children — fly-borne typhoid and cholera — with a low-tech change that worked immediately.

Awards followed because the idea demonstrated brand purpose through action: 'The Color for Good' was shown, not claimed.

A brand's core product can be the solution to a social problem: the insight that flies avoid yellow made paint itself the campaign, so the work became the message.

After launching in October 2023, Yellow Canteen became one of the most decorated purpose projects of the year: a D&AD Yellow Pencil for Spatial Design, a Clio Health Bronze, a One Show Bronze, and Gold plus four Silvers at MAD Stars 2024, where Dentsu and McCann's bigger campaigns took the Grands Prix. International outlets from the US and UK asked to feature the work, and the project expanded beyond Indonesia in 2024. Dulux framed the initiative under 'The Color for Good', extending its brand purpose from decoration to public health.