Vaseline got gamers to delete their skins for skin-donor awareness

Thailand has the highest burn-related mortality rate in Southeast Asia, yet skin donations are critically scarce and almost nobody talks about it. When the Thai Red Cross issued a newspaper plea for donors, Vaseline and Ogilvy Singapore looked for a way to make the issue real to a younger audience.

They borrowed gaming culture's 'skins' - cosmetic items that players value and trade - and had popular Thai streamers such as Mokuchi and Thames Malerose play using only their basic skins, so fans watching live noticed what was missing. The scarcity of virtual skins mirrored the scarcity of donated skin for burn victims.

A short film recreated the message inside a video game world, and limited-edition Vaseline jars carried the campaign with all proceeds going to the Thai Red Cross. The work was shortlisted at Spikes Asia 2024 with three nominations in Social & Influencer, including Co-Creation & User-Generated Content.

Translate a taboo into the audience's language

Gamers already understand the value and rarity of skins.

Streaming makes the gesture visible to a community that ignores PSAs.

The wordplay turns a statistic into something felt.

Limited-edition jars give the audience a concrete way to act.

To make an uncomfortable issue feel relevant, translate it into the vocabulary of the audience you need - gamers know exactly what a 'skin' is worth, so scarcity becomes tangible.

The campaign turned a sensitive, previously unaddressed topic into a conversation among Thai gaming communities, earned three Spikes Asia 2024 shortlist nominations, and directed proceeds from special Vaseline jars to the Thai Red Cross.