Tag: World Smile Day

Manila, Philippines – Colgate-Palmolive is speaking out against smile shaming on World Smile Day Through its #FreeYourSmile campaign, which aims to highlight the value and beauty of every smile.

This initiative is important because of the benefits that smiles provide to society’s health, mental well-being, and social cohesion. The region-wide campaign marks the start of Colgate’s efforts to address this complex issue for society and promote tangible positive changes.

Smile shame is associated with various traits in various markets, reflecting various perspectives on what makes a beautiful smile. The arrangement of one’s teeth is primarily associated with Smile Shame in the Philippines, scoring significantly higher than other possible associations.

#FreeYourSmile is the first step in Colgate’s journey to promote all smiles and combat Smile Shame, with more initiatives in the works. This movement represents Colgate’s desire to encourage people to express themselves confidently and openly, regardless of perceived flaws.

Colgate launched an independent study across the Asia Pacific region to combat smile shame and promote the benefits of smiling in society. Colgate commissioned the Colgate Smile Study 2023, which revealed that 94% of respondents across Asia express a strong desire to be able to smile more openly. The Philippines, along with Taiwan and Thailand, tops this list, with 98% of respondents indicating an eagerness to smile without inhibitions.

In the Philippines, 95% of people believe they have the freedom to smile whenever they want, but 18% refrain because they are self-conscious about the appearance of their smile, which is in line with the Asia Pacific average.

Speaking about the campaign, Yves Briantais, executive vice president, marketing Asia-Pacific, Colgate-Palmolive said, “Smile Shame is especially prevalent in Asia Pacific and this must change. At Colgate, we are on a mission to free people from the constraints of Smile Shame to truly embrace their own unique smiles. We believe brands have the power to challenge unrealistic beauty standards and promote authenticity. This World Smile Day®, Colgate is leading the charge by celebrating all smiles.”

Mumbai, India – Celebrating the World Smile Day, India-based insurance company IndiaFirst Life has unveiled a campaign that would use mobile ad solutions mCanvas’ face-recognition technology.

The company will be using the new “Stories” ad format by mCanvas that would feature eye-catching text, photos, animations, gifs and videos.

The users start by browsing the IndiaFirst Life’s website on their mobile phones where they would see organic content, followed by sponsored ads as they swipe through. As they reach the copy: “When it comes to living a full life, protecting your happiness is essential!,”, a click-to-action (CTA) “Find out how” button enables the phone’s front camera. With the user’s permission, the user would be able to see their face on screen and see a message “That’s why we’d like to give you a reason to smile!’ that would prompt them to smile.” 

Their smile would then be detected that would trigger a smiley to appear on the screen and show IndiaFirst Life’s brand message “Iss Smile ko protect karna toh certain hai”, which means “To protect this smile is to be certain.” Finally, a “Know more” CTA button would appear which leads the user to the landing page to provide more information on the insurance policies.

IndiaFirst Life’s Chief Marketing Officer Sonia Notani, expressed her excitement about their brand’s collaboration with MCanvas.:

“Using ‘World Smile Day’ to further strengthen our brand proposition, we have partnered with mCanvas to bring this innovative ad on mobile to engage with our target audience. We are excited to explore mCanvas’ newest ad format – Stories.”

According to mCanvas Director Indrani Khanvilkar, “We are glad to see that this ad format has worked well for IndiaFirst Life and enriched the overall brand experience.”

mCanvas is a storytelling ad platform which creates sensory mobile web ads that effectively connect brands with their audiences. By utilizing the mobile device sensor and its other features, mCanvas experiences interactive and memorable.