The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Vanish's 'Me, My Autism and I' sells stain care as sensory care — share +2%
A stain remover relaunches into purpose: keeping familiar clothes familiar for autistic girls — record traffic, category share +2%, 7,345 support guides.
Vanish (Reckitt)
What it had to solve
Focus groups on the state of the UK wardrobe showed clothes are deeply emotional — and especially vital for autistic people: 92% have sensory sensitivity and 73% use familiar garments to self-regulate, while girls are three times less likely to be diagnosed than boys. Vanish's purpose, helping clothes live longer, had no emotional expression in market.
How it works
Vanish is a stain-removal brand whose purpose is helping clothes live longer, brighter and stain-free. Research into the UK wardrobe revealed why that promise matters: people wear favourite garments over and over, and for autistic people familiar clothes help regulate the senses — 92% of autistic people have sensory sensitivity and 73% use familiar garments to navigate the world. Girls, the campaign found, are three times less likely than boys to receive an autism diagnosis.
The brand turned that insight into its biggest statement yet. Havas London and Zenith UK won Channel 4's Diversity in Advertising Award with a two-minute film about 'Ash', an autistic girl for whom a hoodie is an anchor — directed by Tom Hooper and developed with the charity Ambitious About Autism. The £1m prize airtime launched the film in a two-minute Gogglebox slot during World Autism Acceptance Week, then stretched across Channel 4, ITV, Sky and cinema.
Around the film, Vanish built a full ecosystem: Good-Loop video whose views convert to donations, an Oxo Gallery exhibition of treasured clothing with owners' stories, an Asda in-store donation run, a 4Studio content series and an online education hub. The effect was commercial and social at once — record traffic to Vanish's site, a +2% share gain in the stain category, a +190% jump in new visitors to the charity, and a campaign that trended #1 on TikTok and prompted teachers to rethink school-uniform policies.
Why it lands
- The creative idea and the brand purpose were the same sentence, so the ad, the product story and the charity partnership reinforced one another.
- A real, under-served audience — autistic girls who are three times less likely to be diagnosed — gave the film a social stake beyond selling.
- Channel 4's £1m airtime prize gave a purpose-led film the mass reach TV alone could deliver, including a two-minute Gogglebox slot.
- Every media element did work: views became donations, in-store purchases became charity money, and exhibitions platformed real autistic voices.
What it did
Vanish reached its highest-ever website traffic and its share of the stain category grew +2% during the campaign period. New visitors to Ambitious About Autism rose +190% versus pre-launch, and support guides reached 7,345 people against a 1,500 KPI. Awareness that familiar clothes matter to autistic people rose 12% (5% KPI) and awareness of the autism diagnosis gender gap rose 11%; over launch weekend 'Vanish autism ad' trended #1 on TikTok.
What you can take
A functional promise becomes potent when the brand finds the person it matters most to — one insight can power the product story, the media plan and the charity partnership.
Since then
The film went on to win the Thinkboxes award for TV creativity, and the case — framed by Zenith as a purpose-led relaunch that drove record sales — was shortlisted at the Media Week Awards. The campaign's metrics live on in the LIONS work archive, and Vanish has kept the sensory-care platform running beyond the launch year.
Sources
- Vanish: Me, My Autism and I — Publicis Groupe UK case study
- Vanish — Zenith UK case study
- Vanish's moving mini-doc wins TV creativity award
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