MiraLAX releases its new campaign, ‘Gutlightenment’, aimed at modernizing the brand and breaking through the category to reposition MiraLAX in a broader physical and emotional context.
The brand defies conventions by leaning into the feelings of irritability and frustration that arise from occasional constipation, helping consumers see gut health in a whole new light. Through an innovative set of vocabulary calling out how constipation can lead to a bad mood, the new bold and empowering campaign talks about an embarrassing topic in a refreshingly playful and relatable way.
A diverse cast of five modern, animated characters, created by Flavor Studios, shows that digestive backups can make any person irritable, or “Crankypated,” like one of MiraLAX’s female characters says. It’s the first step in humanizing the problem of constipation, showing characters that are cool and interesting but also reflect how people truly feel when they deal with a backed-up gut.
“As words like ‘hangry’ have become more popular in pop culture, we wanted to highlight gut health in a similarly playful and easily understood way,” says Energy BBDO ECD, Susan Treacy.
By highlighting how the product works naturally with the water in your body, the campaign puts MiraLAX in a special category. “Our focus is to generate awareness on the emotional impact of constipation, bringing MiraLAX into a broader wellness space, speaking to constipation sufferers who avoid taking laxatives that have aggressive ingredients with harsh side effects,” says Teresa Gonzalez-Ruiz, Vice President Marketing – Nutritionals and Digestive Health.
MiraLAX “Crankypated”
Client:Bayer
Title: Crankypated
Agency: Energy BBDO
Chief Creative Officers: Pedro Pérez, Josh Gross
Executive Creative Director: Susan Treacy
Creative Directors: Gloria Dusenberry, Manuel Torres, Jeff Cenna
Art Director: Allie Salzman
Senior Designer: Andrea Langley
Copywriter: Lucy Butka
Junior Copywriter: Madeline Stoiber
Head of Integrated Production: John Pratt
Executive Producer: Jeff Davis
Producer: Chris Totzke
Executive Director of Music: Daniel Kuypers,
Music Producer: Nick Maker
Music Busniess Coordinator: Karolina Barej
Client Service Director: Katie Clow
Account Supervisor: Serena Lignel
Assistant Account Executive: Jackson Dunn
Group Strategy Director: Jason Parker
Strategy Director: Elizabeth Brown
Junior Strategist: Antoinette Iacullo
Visual Effects and Editorial Company: Flavor (LA)
Executive Producer: Darren Jaffe
Producer: Wendy Umanzor
Creative Director: Jason Cook
Designers: Ella Yoon, Mack Neaton
Animators: Jason Carpenter, David Do, Andy Becker
Audio Company: Another Country (Chicago)
Executive Producer: Tim Konn
Producer: Louise Rider
Sound Designer/Mixer: Jordan Stalling
Audio Assistant: Brett Rossiter
Original Music Composition: Squeak E. Clean Studios (Chicago)
Composer: Rob Barbato
Creative Director: Justin Hori
Executive Producer: Chris Clark
Media Agency: GroupM (New York)
