The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2025–2026
Vaseline lab-tests viral TikTok hacks — wins two Cannes 2025 Grands Prix as brand referee
Vaseline turns its labs into a 'social R&D' referee: scientists test 3.5M viral hacks, stamp the good ones with a blue tick — winning two Cannes Grands Prix.
Vaseline (Unilever)
What it had to solve
Vaseline Jelly had 3.5 million user-generated 'hacks' floating around TikTok and other platforms — slugging, shoe shine, split ends, plus dangerous claims like eating it for an inner glow. Staying silent endorsed the nonsense; a corporate PSA would kill the community's momentum.
How it works
Vaseline Jelly went viral without the brand: 3.5 million user-generated 'hacks' on TikTok and beyond — slugging, shoe shine, split ends, even claims you could eat it for an inner glow. Nobody was checking which claims were true.
Ogilvy Singapore refused both obvious moves — staying silent (implicitly endorsing dangerous advice) or running a corporate PSA (becoming the out-of-touch parent). Instead it built 'Vaseline Verified,' a social R&D ecosystem: the brand's actual scientists test community-sourced hacks in playful lab-style videos. Hacks that pass earn a Verified seal designed to look like a social blue tick; myths are debunked with charm and clarity.
The campaign recognized over 6,000 organic posts, and creators who posted hacks got verdicts straight from Vaseline's scientists. The conversation stayed in the community; the brand's role changed from broadcaster to referee, owning science rather than messaging.
The payoff was commercial and cultural: a 13.9% UK retail sales value rise in one month, a 43% lift in e-commerce sales, a brand-record 63.3 million interactions, and Madonna posting Vaseline without being asked. The campaign won the 2025 Cannes Health & Wellness and Social & Creator Grands Prix plus a Gold Media Lion, and ADFEST 2026's Digital & Social Lotus Grande.
Why it lands
- The insight 'credibility is crowdsourced' flipped the brand's posture from broadcaster to referee.
- A lab is the one thing creators can't produce themselves, so the brand added value without taking over the conversation.
- The blue-tick-style Verified seal translated scientific authority into a cultural symbol the audience already understands.
- It was safer legally and culturally: by validating or debunking, Vaseline stopped silently endorsing harmful claims.
- Results were measurable — sales, e-commerce, interactions — not just impressions.
What it did
The hacks stay community-owned while the brand becomes referee: 13.9% UK retail sales value growth in one month, +43% e-commerce lift, a brand-record 63.3M interactions, and Madonna posting Vaseline unprompted. It won Cannes 2025 Health & Wellness and Social & Creator Grands Prix, a Gold Media Lion, and ADFEST 2026's Digital & Social Lotus Grande.
What you can take
When your audience already owns the conversation, don't try to take it back — supply the one thing creators can't produce themselves (a lab), and let validation, not messaging, be the brand.
Since then
Vaseline Verified became a continuing platform rather than a one-off stunt: it collected more honors through 2026 — five D&AD Yellow Pencils, ADFEST's Lotus Grande, and further Lions — and expanded into a global creator program where scientists answer hacks directly. The campaign is now cited as the template for heritage brands facing user-generated claims, showing that validation can be a business engine, not just crisis management.
Sources
- Ogilvy Wins Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Vaseline, Viatris Campaigns
- 'Vaseline Verified' Wins Grand Prix
- From TikTok to the Test Tube: If You Can't Beat the Hacks, Join Them
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