• by Sarah Mahoney , 2 hours ago

Moviegoers settling in for previews this winter were met with an unexpected mystery: ominous visuals, a creeping sense of dread — and hair. Lots of it.

The campaign, titled “Stop the Shedding,” looks more like a moody psychological thriller than a beauty ad. And that’s the point. Pantene is using cinema advertising, movie-poster-style outdoor placements and teaser trailers to dramatize an experience many women recognize instantly: watching their hair collect in the shower drain and wondering whether something is wrong.

“It just feels like you’re trapped in a horror movie you can’t get out of,” says Sara Vincent, brand director at Pantene. “That’s exactly what women told us in research.”

The campaign, created by Grey, supports Pantene’s new Abundant & Strong collection, a three-step system — shampoo, conditioner and daily scalp serum — designed to reduce hair shedding by addressing scalp oxidative stress.

“We were looking closely at what women are hearing about hair loss today,” Vincent says. “And we wanted to make sure we weren’t driving more fear or anxiety. The goal was to show women they’re not alone — and that there is hope, and there are solutions.”

Pantene leaned into cinematic storytelling to make that message land emotionally before it ever became technical. The campaign debuted with teaser trailers in movie theaters, wild-posting-style outdoor placements in New York, Los Angeles and Austin, and a teaser website designed to spark curiosity before revealing the brand.

More than 150,000 people engaged with the teaser phase, Vincent says, trying to figure out what the campaign was about before the reveal. “A lot of people were excited — and honestly delighted — to find out it was a real campaign,” she tells Marketing Daily.

The use of cinema advertising is a first for the brand, and she says the timing just seemed right. “Movies are a form of escapism,” Vincent says. “It’s a space people want to talk about and share — especially as we get into awards season.”

Behind the creative is a product nearly a decade in development. The Abundant & Strong system uses Pantene’s Pro-Vitamin Complex with antioxidants designed to reduce stress on the scalp, which research has linked to weakened hair retention at the root.

“Two out of three women experience hair shedding,” Vincent says. “And for a lot of them, it’s seasonal or stress-related, not something extreme — but it’s still emotionally heavy.”

In clinical testing, Pantene says the system helped users retain up to 6,000 strands over eight weeks and reduce shedding by up to 85%.

Vincent is careful not to frame the product as a cure-all. “We designed this for a range of experiences — from seasonal shedding to postpartum hair loss,” she says. “It’s about retaining more hair for fullness and length.”

Pantene, owned by Procter & Gamble,  is also leaning on education and credibility to counter a category crowded with misinformation. The campaign includes partnerships with trichologist Abbey Yung and creator Alix Earle, blending scientific explanation with first-person storytelling.

“What women told us they wanted was real credentialing,” Vincent says. “Why should I believe this works?”

For Pantene, success will be measured not just in sales, but in new users and repeat adoption of the daily serum — and in whether the brand can continue to show up credibly in a conversation that’s often driven by fear.

“We want this to be reassuring,” Vincent says. “Not another reason to panic — but a way out of the horror movie.”