Persil's Oscars ad sees 'The Professional' become an action hero

Actor Peter Hermann reprises his role in 'The Chase' in ad to go out on ABC during Academy Awards

Published On
Mar 25, 2022

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Henkel's Persil ProClean is running a commercial during ABC's Oscar broadcast in which the super clean-looking actor Peter Hermann reprises his role as the "Professional" in epic action movie style.

"The Chase" stars Hermann as a James Bond-like figure in a sparkling white tux, chasing a female jewel thief in an exciting getaway sequence that involves daring rooftop jumps and stunts. When he eventually catches up with her, he announces that he's here not to recapture the diamonds she's stolen, but for "the stains" that now adorn her jacket. Having cleaned her up, he leaps on a Persil-branded truck announcing that the "next stain awaits."

Created via DDB New York, and directed by Stink's Keith McCarthy, the campaign puts the "Professional" character, who first appeared in a Super Bowl spot in 2016, in a more cinematic setting for the first time. As well as the TV ad, which will run as a 30 second version during ABC's Academy Awards broadcast on Sunday, the agency also created a "movie poster" image (below) that will run on social media.

Persil poster

"We wanted to do the unexpected with this campaign in a way that is fun and memorable, and also super disruptive for the category," said Mat Bisher, chief creative officer at DDB New York, in a statement. "What’s better than a chase scene with someone who wants to tackle stains vs. capturing a criminal?”

"Ultimately, our goal was to have this new Persil campaign continue to drive our equity and expand our audience by inviting consumers to try the brand," added Alan Wolpert, president & regional head of laundry & home care, North America at Henkel. "This category is heavily cluttered and so we are employing a disruptive approach to both entertain while also elevating the cleaning power behind the Persil brand’s product efficacy."

An earlier version of this story stated that the commercial was Persil's first Oscars ad, due to inaccurate information supplied by the agency.

Credits

Date
Mar 25, 2022
Client :
Persil ProClean
Agency :
DDB-New York
President :
Alan Wolpert
Vice President :
Chris McClement
Marketing Director :
Matt Kutnick
Sr. Brand Manager :
Matt Bernick
Associate Brand Manager :
Andrew Gelblat
Senior Manager Research & Development :
Wendy Saladyga
Chief Creative Officer DDB Worldwide :
Ari Weiss
Chief Creative Officer DDB NY :
Mat Bisher
President DDB NY :
Darla Price
Chief Strategy Officer DDB NY :
Auro Trini Castelli
Creative Director :
Holger Scheuermann
Group Creative Director :
Cassandra Anderson
Group Creative Director :
Lea Ladera
Creative Director :
Dan Colburn
Creative Director :
Jesse Yowell
Head of Production :
Teri Altman
Executive Producer :
Jill Meschino
Associate Producer :
Yamoaa Gyimah
Director of Business Affairs :
Kelly McCann
Group Business Director :
Vanessa Reyes
VP Strategy :
Allison Canagasaby
Senior Project Manager :
Jimmy Paradis
Account Supervisor :
Rob Parkin
Production Company :
Stink
Director :
Keith McCarthy
President :
Daniel Bergmann
Managing Partner / Executive Producer :
Mungo Maclagan
Producer :
Brian Quinlan
Head of Production :
Ari Schneiderm
Post Production :
Cut + Run
Editor :
Gary Knight
Executive Producer :
Ellese Shell
Senior Producer :
Eytan Gutman
Managing Director :
Lauren Hertzberg
Audio Post :
Yessian
EP/Managing Director :
Marlene Bartos
Global CD :
Gerard Smerek
Composer :
Dan Zank
Sound Design :
Weston Fonger
Audio Post Production :
Sound Lounge
Audio Post Production :
Tom Jucarone
Video Post Production :
Framestore
Creative Director :
Martin Lazaro
VFX Supervisor :
Ivan España
2nd Lead :
Kane Herd
Executive Producer :
Heino Henning
Producer :
Christina Chung

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