2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Canadians are environmentally conscious — perhaps take on plant-based diets or cut down on plastics to protect the planet. But while 84% of us are grappling with at least a moderate sense of climate anxiety, one lifestyle change remains out of sight and largely out of mind: our bathroom habits.

While it might not seem like a big part of combating climate change, how we clean our butts has a significant impact on the environment. In fact, switching to a TUSHY bidet toilet attachment saves 384 trees and reduces water usage by 80%. That’s right — a bidet. Used daily all over the world but too often confused for a urinal here in North America, bidets are awesome but not well understood. And definitely not seen as an act of environmental action.

For its launch into Canada, TUSHY set out to prove that making people uncomfortable can be good business, and drive consideration by giving bidets a place in culture they deserve. They needed to help Canadians recognize that they had a lifelong habit that needed to be broken: cleaning
their butts with mother nature.

Telling the environmental impact on its own wouldn’t do it. Assholes, like many environmental issues we face, are usually kept out of sight and out of mind. To get over the “ick” factor and show Canadians that they’re cleaning their bottoms all wrong, they decided to bring the assholes into sight. Very into sight.

Some environmental activists use their hands to save the planet. Others use their voice and influence. Bidet users use their butt to combat climate change.

Rooting themselves in the truths about how Canadians need to start treating the planet better, they developed a campaign focused on highlighting local, everyday environmental heroes just in time for World Environment Day.

The “Asshole Activists” gallery — TUSHY’s first Canadian initiative — spotlighted 20 Toronto-based TUSHY lovers. These proud bidet advocates participated in a professional photoshoot with environmental photographer Ara Coutts. The images captured were mesmerizing, artistic close-up portraits of their asshole — i.e. the body part doing the work to save the planet!

To spread the word of this first-of-its-kind uh, spread, they invited media and influencers to an exclusive preview one day prior to the public opening. This is where they revealed their art, creative installations, and impressive information about the environmental benefits of a TUSHY. They even offered attendees a chance to meet with select model activists in attendance, the campaign photographer, and TUSHY’s founder, Miki Agrawal. Media leveraged the experience of the gallery for social content as well as for interviews to inform stories that were published nationally. Additionally, they engaged with top-tier influencer, Priyanka of Canada’s Drag Race to share social content from the gallery, and they welcomed North Americans to enter a contest to win their own asshole photoshoot in Toronto.

The campaign was amplified through TUSHY’s owned social channels and through the dedicated campaign website — TUSHYactivists.com. Their PR efforts were ongoing as they continued to pitch in lead-up to World Environment Day, distributing a press release and conducting an ongoing cadence of
earned media outreach across North America.

Attendees and broader media were both surprised and impressed by not only the art, but everything they learned about how using a TUSHY can help save the world. They received a mass amount of earned coverage, ultimately generating 301 media placements, 201 social hits, 243.7 million impressions across Canada, 6,500 visitors to their website and 136 entries to the contest. When the gallery opened to the public for one day only, it saw more than 600 visitors in only 8 hours.

Beyond PR results, TUSHY also saw impressive business results tied to the event, achieving a 285% increase in Canadian sales year-over-year, 155% more Canadian website sessions YoY and an impressive 521% increase in promo code usage.

Notable highlight: nationally renowned journalist Rita Demontis interviewed Miki and Ara for an article that was ultimately published in top-tier outlet National Post and syndicated across the country. Because of this news, same day sales across Canada increased by 3 times normal run rates almost immediately.

Credits

Production Company/Agency: Citizen Relations, Toronto
Advertiser Brand: TUSHY Inc.
Advertising Agency: Citizen Relations, Toronto

Citizen Relations

Chief Creative Officer, Josh Budd
Associate Creative Director, Anton Mwewa
Art Director, Shirley Xu Wang
Copywriter, Marly Dichter
Senior Vice President, PR, Josie Haynes
Senior Vice President, Strategy, Lindsay Page
Senior Account Director, XM, Adam O’Neill
Account Director, PR, Kristen Schaffrath
Account Manager, PR, Rebecca McLaren
Account Manager, XM, Danielle Brown
Senior Account Executive, PR, Jamie Reekie
Account Executive, PR, Chanel Herber

Support

Photographer & Editor, Ara Coutts
Assistant, Theodore King
Producer, Nicole St. Jean
Website Developer, Oliver Morrissey

TUSHY Team

Co-founder and CCO, Miki Agrawal
CEO, Jason Ojalvo
Co-founder and COO, Justin Allen
Design Director, Kaitlyn Peterson
VP, Marketing, Justin Reekie
Associate Director, Brand, Jack Barry
Associate Director, Growth, Rachel Giffen
Social Media Associate, Crile Hart