Vaseline enlists a real Nigerian Prince to call out fakes

Vaseline's ‘Don't let fakes get under your skin' campaign

Vaseline has rolled out a campaign, ‘Don’t let fakes get under your skin’, to tackle the rise of counterfeit body oils.

Conceptualised by Leo Singapore, the campaign film features Prince Chris Okagbue, who plays on the widely recognised ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam trope. Acknowledging the stereotype, he identifies himself as the real deal before spotlighting the issue of counterfeit skincare products. The narrative showcases him discarding a seemingly authentic bottle of Vaseline after revealing it to be fake, before introducing the brand's authenticator tool as a solution. 

The campaign introduces the Vaseline Authenticator, a WhatsApp-based tool that allows consumers to verify the authenticity of the brand's product in seconds. Users can scan a QR code or click on a link to open a WhatsApp chat, where the “Prince’s assistant” prompts them to upload images of the product. The tool then confirms whether the product is genuine or counterfeit. 

Set against the backdrop of a growing counterfeit goods market, the campaign highlights the risks posed by unregulated and potentially harmful skincare products, while offering a simple verification mechanism built on a platform widely used by consumers globally.

What we think about it: An idea brilliant in its simplicity that takes a familiar internet joke of the ‘Nigerian prince’ scam, and flips it into a device for building trust! Casting a real Nigerian prince is, of course, the masterstroke here, that instantly grabs attention and sticks. WhatsApp being part of  the solution makes it both accessible and scalable. All in all, it’s a neat blend of storytelling and function - one that doesn’t just highlight the problem, but actually solves for it.

CREDITS

Brand: Vaseline Shazan Zahir - Head of Beauty & Wellbeing, Unilever International Anirban Mullick - Head of Sales Africa, Unilever International Ibidare Adegunle - Business Development Manager, Unilever International - Nigeria Xingyun Tan - Assistant Brand Manager, Unilever International Janson Tan - Marketing, Unilever International Creative Agency: Leo Singapore Chief Creative Officer: Ajay Vikram Group Executive Creative Director: Asheen Naidu Creative Technologist: Sergey Mast Creative Director: Boston Ho, Eugene Yow Head of Integrated Creative & Production Services: Bettina Feng Senior Integrated Producer: Isabelle Lee Client Partner: Melissa Tee Group Planning Director: Valerie Wang Lead PR Partner: MSL Singapore, Alicia Thong - General Manager Production Company: Ama Psalmist Visuals, Prodigious Production House: Ama Psalmist Visuals Head of Production/Producer: Michael ‘AMA Psalmist’ Akinrogunde Co-Producer: Abraham Christiana Director: Ibidunni Oladayo Photographer: Ryan Alabi Director of Photography: Granville Wilson Production Designer: Chris Udomi Assistant Director: Fasunhan Oluwatosin Post Production: Amos Tan, Jackson Toh, Prodigious Colourist: Kyle Stroebel Audio Post: FVSE