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Vaseline Tracks Actual Buzz about New Lotion in Small Alaska Town

Unilever’s Vaseline set forth on an unusual research project in a small town in Alaska. Setting up a storefront, the company began giving away free bottles of lotion and asking recipients to name the person who had recommended they come out to grab their freebie.

The brand hoped to find the single person who had plugged the lotion the most, in order to use that person in a commercial.

And they found her: Petal Ruch, mother of four, had tried the lotion when she heard Vaseline was giving it away, and told “a bunch” of people in her community about it, writes The New York Times.

The ad will focus on how Ruch “prescribed” the lotion to her town, which was in need of it “since we all have dry skin and stuff,” she is quoted as saying.

Vignettes taken from the documentary-like filming being used to create the ad will be available online. The marketing team will also replicate the social “map” that shows how the word spread from Ruch to the rest of the residents. To date, the website shows only an intro with a brief description of the campaign. “We gave it to one woman….” it reads, rather disingenuously.