The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2024
Vaseline turned idle hand-sanitizer stands into sunscreen dispensers at building exits
Vaseline refilled idle COVID sanitizer stands with SPF50+ sunscreen, turned them to face exits, and Indonesians applied it on the way out.
Unilever (Vaseline)
The solution
Indonesia sits on the equator, where the UV index regularly reaches High Risk to Extreme levels, yet most Indonesians saw sunscreen as a beach product rather than daily protection. Dermatologists recommend applying and reapplying it before going out, but the habit had never formed.
COVID had built the perfect template: hand-sanitizer dispensers became ubiquitous at building entrances and trained millions to pump before entering. As the pandemic faded, those stands sat idle — the habit was dissolving with them.
Vaseline and VML collected the unused dispensers, cleaned and refilled them with Vaseline SPF50+ sunscreen, and reinstalled them facing outward, so people applied protection as they left buildings, offices and tourist sites. QR codes linked each stand to sun-protection education and direct purchase pages, turning the pumps into free sampling and retail media at once.
Surveyed users at participating buildings reported that more than 32% actively used the Sunitizers and another 27% had used them at least once; of those, over 52% said they would keep using sunscreen. The work took Bronze in Citra Pariwara for Good at Citra Pariwara 37 and a Gold at the MMA Smarties Indonesia 2025.
Why it worked
- It replaced a fading habit with a familiar one using hardware that already existed, so the campaign scaled without building any new infrastructure.
- The exit-facing placement made the sunscreen a moment of protection rather than an interruption, converting a passive audience into samplers.
- Each dispenser doubled as media: education, trial and e-commerce sat on the same QR code, closing the loop from awareness to purchase.
- The upcycling story gave the campaign shareable proof of how it worked, spreading word-of-mouth about UV exposure on its own.
What can be applied
When a behavior fades, anchor the new habit to the old one's infrastructure instead of asking people to change. Familiar position and gesture did the persuading; the brand only changed what came out.
Aftermath
Unilever Indonesia committed to keep upcycling abandoned dispensers and placing Sunitizers in high-footfall areas across multiple cities through 2024 and 2025. The campaign earned Bronze in the Citra Pariwara for Good category at Citra Pariwara 37 (December 2024), a Gold at MMA Smarties Indonesia 2025, and was featured in the ADFEST 2025 winners showcase as a field-marketing case.
Sources
- Vaseline Sunitizer — ADFEST 2025 winners details
- การตลาด Vaseline Sunitizer เปลี่ยนเครื่องจ่ายเจลล้างมือเป็นครีมกันแดด
- Citra Pariwara 37: A celebration showcasing the potential of Indonesia's creative industries
- The Winners of the 37th Citra Pariwara Awards
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