Recently I was trying to think of ways to build my creative portfolio. Ya, I could make some ads for the same products/brands that every student has worked on over the past few years, but doing the same thing over-and-over again really bores me. I also wanted to focus on products that don’t really need advertising. I won’t say exactly how I thought “urinal cakes could be funny,” but it’s now the theme of this post.
This idea glorifies the urinal cake. A man and a urinal cake share a bond much like a car and one of those Little Tree Car Freshners. The air freshener masks the pungent smell of month-old french fries and cigarettes. The urinal cake obscures the odor of digested celery and beer from not only the “user” of the product, but also for the guy who has to maintain the area after last call. In short, both of these relationships help prevent noses from catching a whiff of whatever the hell someone consumed.
Having no prior knowledge of urinal cake producers, a quick Internet search told me that Uline is the biggest manufacturer of urinal cakes in this great country. So, there is our client…Uline.
The urinal cake is one of the greatest innovations to public restroom technology since the invention of the urinal. It’s also something rarely talked about. If you are a male and reading this, have you ever been relieving yourself somewhere and had to implement what I call the “mouth breathe only when critical technique?” If so, you understand the beauty of the urinal cake. Now something that should not be lost in all this urinal talk is the combination of the cake and the rubber splash thing it sits on (I don’t know what to call it, maybe it’s a mat). When combined properly, these two products can create a public bathroom environment fit for a king. One product masks the smell, the other prevents splash.
So without further explanation, here are 3 print ads for Uline:
Promotions? Sure thing:
Bathroom Community Service:
This will be a social media campaign. Men can log on to uline.com and fill out a form to receive a free Uline urinal cake. After receiving the cake, the individual has the option to take this campaign a step further. We’re talking a guerilla advertising campaign promoting public restroom community service. This promotion gets guys to place their free urinal cake in a bathroom that really needs it. People love getting free stuff. Uline will offer users a free shirt or bumper sticker if they upload a picture of them doing their good deed (helping a urinal in need) and tagging us on Facebook or Twitter.
Draining Area Makeover:
This promotion is geared to start buzz from local bar/pub owners and frequenters. We’ve all been somewhere that seems nice in the common area, but significantly lacks in the draining area. The idea behind this one is to “makeover” the public bathroom. Installing the newest bathroom technology in an old decrepit restroom helps support family owned businesses and gets the Uline brand attention. The whole bathroom transformation will be recorded and edited to be like a home makeover parody. This promotion will gain momentum through its own web series.
Talking Urinals
The idea behind this promotion focuses on placing urinals with pre-recorded messages in popular bars and restaurants. On one side of the urinal wall there is a Uline urinal that compliments men using it. On the other side is a urinal that tells guys that they would be enjoying themselves a lot more by using the urinal equipped with Uline.
***This is the first truly “weird” product I have ever worked on. I wanted to show YOU that I like to think originally and creatively.***
-Michael Haake
