• by Les Luchter , September 10, 2024

Image above: Venus Williams attending last week’s Downy Rinse & Refresh event in NYC. Photo credit: Downy

 

After two years of the Backstreet Boys backing up Downy’s Rinse & Refresh laundry odor remover, Procter & Gamble has turned to tennis star Venus Williams as part of a new campaign titled “Rinse it Out.”

“Teaming up with one of the greatest tennis champions of all time shines a light on the intense role of sweat in athletic performance,” Mike Hartman, Downy’s senior brand director, North America, said in a statement.

Williams is promoting Rinse & Refresh via social media posts, as well as media interviews. She also appeared at a two-day New York City pop-up event last week.

Her spiel, via an Instagram post: “As an athlete, entrepreneur and author, I know a thing or two about working up a sweat. From Grand Slam titles to running daily drills, practice doesn’t always smell like flowers. After practice, I use Downy Rinse & Refresh to get the odor out of my workout gear and my sweat towels, keeping my sacred practice time smelling good so I can continue being the freshest player on the court over and over again.”

Downy has also launched a new musical commercial, which includes neither Williams nor the Backstreet Boys.

The spot, which will run for a year, is part of a paid campaign running on TV, online video, radio and social.

“Every now and then I get tired of the stinks that just will never come out,” sings a woman backed up by a singing group in the ad, but “every now and then, I rinse it out.”

The target audience, Downy tells Marketing Daily, is 20- to 45-year-olds, including African Americans and Hispanics  with two or more family members.

Agencies involved with the campaign are Saatchi & Saatchi, Marina Maher Communications, and Ketchum.