Pioneering Skincare brand UpCircle launches First TV Campaign through Sky’s Footprint Fund!

Sky Media, the advertising arm of Sky, has announced that UpCircle, the pioneering UK-based sustainable skincare brand, is to launch its first-ever TV campaign. This milestone follows UpCircle winning £250,000 of media as part of the 2023 Sky Zero Footprint Fund, a £2 million initiative amplifying brands that are making a positive impact on the planet.

The win has provided UpCircle an incredible opportunity to showcase its innovative approach to beauty, which centres on repurposing by-products from other industries, such as coffee grounds and fruit stones, into high-quality skincare products. This approach not only reduces waste but also challenges the conventional beauty industry to rethink its practices.

Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media, added: “The Sky Zero Footprint Fund recognises businesses that are actively working to reduce their carbon footprint and inspire others to do the same. UpCircle Beauty’s commitment to sustainability, circular economy principles, and ethical production was a perfect match for the fund’s mission.”

The creative tells the story of two of UpCircle’s best-sellers, made with their most famous upcycled ingredient, coffee. The unique journey of the product is shown entirely in reverse – starting with application to skin, then the process of it being manufactured, then the coffee being collected and finally the cup of coffee being made. UpCircle is a brand with authenticity at its core, so casting a genuine customer as lead talent cements the brands ethos. The ad also features members of their own team for true authenticity, collecting coffee from a coffee shop where they do collect granules for their products. UpCircle’s creative was crafted and produced in partnership with Toast and follows best practice advice and recommendations from the Advertising Association’s AdGreen programme.

Anna Brightman, Co-Founder at UpCircle, said: “There is no beauty brand doing more than we are, and there are few industries as wasteful as ours. The authenticity and sincerity of this campaign is true to our brand, one thing Sky were big fans of. We wanted to immediately engage with our audience, how do we do that? By using one of our very own customers as our lead talent! We’ve been patiently waiting for the right time to air our ad and at long last that time has come. We are so excited to share it with the world and to see it on screens during peak season. We are very grateful that Sky has recognised us as a changemaker and offered us this opportunity to have an immense positive impact. This means so much to every one of us at UpCircle.”
The campaign will air across Sky Media channels from the 15th of September, using Sky’s data to target relevant audiences, channels and content to optimise web visits, sign-up and purchases.

Think your organisation could be a winner in the Footprint Fund 2024? Click here to register your interest in hearing more about Footprint Fund 2024 ahead of the launch.

WUKA Unveils Taboo-Busting Advert For Pioneering Plastic-Free Period Pants In Its First TV Campaign

Sky Zero Footprint Fund 2022 winner, WUKA, launches £250k advertising campaign for sustainable periods.

Today, Sky Media reveals WUKA’s advertising campaign as one of the five winners of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund initiative.

The taboo-busting ad encourages women to ditch plastic-riddled disposable pads and tampons in favour of its sustainable period wear, with an honest depiction of real period stories, in an effort to normalise conversations around menstruation.

WUKA funded the campaign using the £250,000 media value earned from winning the Sky Zero Footprint Fund in 2022.

WUKA’s first TV advert will broadcast from the 21st of April and will run until the end of May 2023, when it will be aired across Sky Media’s Linear TV and VOD platforms.

WUKA stands for Wake Up Kick Ass, a mindset which is encapsulated in the script – the most claim-heavy script the production company had ever seen. After a gruelling six months of defending the creative with Clearcast – the advertising review body responsible for clearing TV adverts of potential misleading, harmful or offensive content – WUKA successfully upheld its realistic depiction of periods and its eco-friendly credentials, to bring its ad to life.

From conducting a low carbon shoot to depicting the true nature of periods with real bodies, real life situations and even realistic blood, WUKA is bringing sustainable period wear to the masses with the help of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund.

The panel of judges first viewed the 30” TV creative at the Sky Zero Footprint Fund Showcase event on December 7, 2022, where the ad was applauded for its very clear message and potential to positively impact both women’s health and the environment.

Ruby Raut, CEO and Co-Founder of WUKA said “For decades, growing up in Nepal, I used my mum’s old sari rags, was stigmatised for having a period, and was banished from my home whenever I was bleeding. I grew up with first-hand experience of what it’s like to live in period poverty and surrounded by the shame associated with menstruation.

“When I came to the UK, I was overwhelmed with choices, yet there was a distinct lack of sustainable period product options, or even easy-to-use solutions, offering the comfort and convenience that women and girls deserve to help them feel confident whilst bleeding. WUKA came about from a desire to create a product that both empowers the menstruating population and helps the planet.

As a self-funded scale-up, the Sky Zero Footprint Fund win has provided a really exciting and first-time opportunity for us to showcase our brand and product, but, more importantly, highlight the benefits of a switch to more sustainable period solutions, whilst also smashing taboos around menstruation. We’re hoping our first ever TV commercial will go a long way to making a difference to the lives of women, future generations and to helping reduce period related plastic waste.”

Throughout production, WUKA collaborated with Route Nine Studios husband & wife duo (Mike and Teri Moran) to integrate sustainable production decisions and practices. Steps taken included renting an Airbnb property for the shoot (instead of building a bespoke set); using electric vehicles and public transport for all travel; adopting a zero plastic set; and offsetting all carbon resulting from the shoot and production process.

Below are some insights that informed WUKA’s campaign and creative execution:

1. Around 700,000 panty liners, 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million sanitary towels are flushed down the toilet every day, with 1.5‐2 billion menstrual items flushed down Britain’s toilets every year.
2. One conventional sanitary pad takes around 500 years to break down. As well as contributing to plastic pollution, a year’s worth of a typical menstrual product also impacts on climate, with a carbon footprint of 5.3kg CO2 equivalent.
3. A report by Plan International UK reveals that:
   • Over a third (34%) of girls that miss school due to periods worry about leaking.
   • More than one in four (28%) young women aged 14 to 21 are struggling to afford period products.

The 2023 Sky Zero Footprint Fund is now open for entries. Sign up here to register your interest in learning more about how to submit your entry, before the deadline on the 26th of May 2023.

Eco Home Care champion Homethings unveils its first ever TV spot with a Tap-Tapity-Tap

• The spot, created by Founders Makers, cleverly plays on the brand’s trademark “Just Add Tap™” slogan by introducing the “Tap-Tapity-Tap” concept, playing service to its innovative range of waterless, refillable, re-usable and single-use plastic free cleaning products
• Homethings’ new ad creative will air for the first time on 2nd April 2023 across a mix of channels and programming in Sky Media’s portfolio
• The ad, supported by the £250,000 media value it won as a finalist in the 2022 Sky Zero Footprint Fund TV campaign, will run throughout April as the nation gears up for spring cleaning

Homethings – the most innovative challenger brand in sustainable home care – reveals the creative for its first ever national TV advert. A finalist in the 2022 Sky Zero Footprint Fund, Homethings winning advert is imaginative, witty and boldly understated. The 30” spot brings to life the brand’s trademark slogan “Just Add Tap™” and further forwards the brand’s mission to make refillable products more mainstream.

Created and produced by Founders Makers in conjunction with the team at Homethings, the ad opens with ‘your pretty average guy’ dressed in a grey robe – a dreary contrast to his statement mustard yellow kitchen. In the background, the faint sound of tapping can be heard. In a short summary, “The Tap Man” explains the bonkers reality that the average cleaning spray is mainly water, packaged and shipped around the world in single-use plastic. As the camera zooms out, we can see that “The Tap Man” is the culprit of the infectious tap-tapity-tapping, sporting a pair of signature black tap dancing shoes.

In a brilliant, cheesy 80s flash, he introduces Homethings – a clever, powerful refillable alternative series of cleaning sprays that consumers can activate at home when they add tap water. Whipping off his robe, “The Tap Man” comes into his own, delighting viewers with a top-notch tap-dancing effort that’s interjected with snappy visuals showing Homethings’ all-purpose spray being filled with tap water and the effervescent tablet dissolving till it’s ready to use.

The ad culminates in a moment that’s reminiscent of a local panto performance, as the brand’s logo rolls down from a banner and confetti fills the air, ending on the Homethings’ tagline “Just Add Tap™”.

Homethings produced the spot after securing a media investment from the 2022 Sky Zero Footprint Fund, which was established to support businesses that are driving practical solutions to the climate crisis. The Sky Zero Footprint Fund rewards five sustinable businesses annually with a share of £2 million worth of ad spend across Sky’s Media’s cross-platform portfolio.

Tim Keaveney, Co-Founder of Homethings, commented: “We are fizzing with excitement to see this ad go live nationwide across Sky. Our mission at Homethings is to change the way the world cleans and raising awareness that most products are mainly water packed in plastic on a nationwide scale takes us one step closer to that mission. The ad is as bonkers as the problem we are trying to solve. We really wanted to highlight some of the fundamental issues within the home care industry, but rather than delivering it in a way that feels preachy, we wanted it to be relatable and to bring a sense of real joy for consumers in what is a really difficult time. The ad really delivers that and shows just how simple and impactful a swap like this can be.”

Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media, said: “Our Footprint Fund Judges were so impressed by the potential impact that Homethings will have on the environment. Their brilliantly playful ‘Just add Tap’ creative perfectly encapsulates their commitment to disrupt and revolutionise the home cleaning industry through refillable products. Homethings’ message is ideally suited to tap into the homes of our audiences as the nation prepares for the annual spring cleaning frenzy.”

Charlie Holman, Strategy Director at Founders Makers, added: “Understandably there is very little humour in ‘environmental comms’. This means the same recycled images and scare tactics routinely get wheeled out by brands; glaciers melting, the animal kingdom dying and oceans full of plastic – we’ve seen it all before. So it was time to try something new that lived up to the Homethings reputation for being a disruptor in the cleaning category. For us ‘The Tap Man’ truly embodies what the brand’s tone is all about. It’s memorable, but not preachy, and the perfect way of celebrating the simple solution that is Homethings. After all, you don’t change behaviour if no one remembers you.”

The Homethings ad aired for the first time on the 2nd of April and can be watched on Linear and VOD platforms across Sky Media’s portfolio of channels and programming.

For more information, visit www.gethomethings.com