Campaign Spotlight: Safeguard personifies germs and bacteria through Fred D’ Germ voiced by Gloc-9 for Global Handwashing Day Campaign

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MANILA, PHILIPPINES–After weeks of rebuttal against Fred D’ Germ, an online ‘influenzah’ and rapper spreading misinformation on the importance of proper handwashing, thousands of Filipinos have tuned in to show massive support for Safeguard at the #SafeWash Raprapan sa Global Handwashing Day that went live online last October 15, 2020.

It was in late September when the Philippine Handwashing Survey results showed that only 50 percent of Filipinos wash their hands properly. This “puwede na” mentality in handwashing is big problem especially during this pandemic. This prompted Safeguard to create the #SafeWash Movement by calling out all the ways Filipinos are not properly washing their hands, and by presenting the message in pop culture themes that would stick with Filipinos of all ages.

To ensure that the rap song sounds legit and ooze with authentic street cred, Group Creative Director Noel Orosa traded minds (and lines!) with legendary Filipino rapper Gloc-9 over several days’ worth of songwriting collaboration sessions in which they finessed the lyrics to its final form. The melody for the earwormy refrain that serves as the recurring hook was then composed by multi-awarded hitmaker Thyro Alfaro of Loudbox Studios.

The mass education music video, now with more than 10 million views, was done by Filipinos for Filipinos. Safeguard collaborated with five of the top animation houses in the Philippines in a span of three weeks that brought out the best in Filipino animation talent. The catchy rap song was also voiced by Gloc-9, the nation’s #1 rapper. Through this material, Safeguard aims to reach more Filipinos to show how proper handwashing is done.

The biggest challenge, according to Safeguard, was finishing the film’s three-month storyboard in three weeks. Pabrika director Joel Limchoc pushed the visual parody of Fred D’Germ’s unwanted invasion even further by referencing not just music videos but video games, movies and pop culture memes that the target audience would surely recognize – in order to paint the picture of Fred’s seemingly successful attempt to dominate their entire world.

The solution was to spread the work across three Filipino animation houses – Riot, Team App Inc, Acid House plus one animation house based in New Zealand – Cirkus. The animation work was divided into eight sequences so that the total of 2 minutes’ worth of animation time could be executed within three short weeks.

Limchoc orchestrated the animation work of the four animation houses by assigning segments based on each animator’s strength and visual style. Due to the impossibly tight lead time, each stage of set design, character design, camera work and animation had to be monitored on a daily basis via video calls.

Filipinos Pledge to Practice #SafeWash Habits

Safeguard was also invited by the Department of Health and UNICEF to share the #SafeWash movement at the recent Global Handwashing Day Symposium in October 16, 2020. The brand shared the roots of the #SafeWash movement and how the brand is also partnering with institutions to ensure that the push on handwashing education is enabled by ensuring there is access to hand washing facilities.

With the heightened concern over safety and health of every Filipino family due to this pandemic, Safeguard’s #SafeWash Movement receives an overwhelming response of support. The Safe Wash Movement has made Filipinos more mindful of their hand hygiene. Many have expressed their appreciation for Safeguard’s initiative in continuing their mission in educating Filipinos on the proper way of handwashing.

Continuing what started as a battle cry against hand hygiene misinformation, celebrities, online personalities, and numerous communities have shared and posted videos — spreading support for the #SafeWash movement.

With Safeguard’s correct handwashing practices, every trip to the sink is a guaranteed #SafeWash for a #SAFEPhilippines.

CREDITS: 
The Hugas Na Rin ‘Yan – Fred D’ Germ ft. Gloc-9 film was created by P&G Singapore in partnership with Saatchi and Saatchi Singapore, Film Pabrika, Cirkus NZ, RiOT, TeamApp Inc, Thryo Alfaro, and Nioki Aquino.

P&G Singapore
Vice President for Personal Care APAC, Middle East and Africa: Kiran Gotur
Safeguard Brand Director APAC: Ajay Sampath
Safeguard Senior Brand Manager APAC: Sam Razon
BBIC Director for Production: Sarah Tolentino
BBIC Director for Production: Lyda Aguinaldo

Saatchi and Saatchi Singapore
Chief Creative Officer – Global Clients: Ajay Vikram
Group Creative Directors: Noel Orosa, Sarah Ko
Sr. Art Director: Valerie Villaflor
Writers: Noel Orosa, Gloc-9
Executive Producer: Daniel Ho
Senior Producer: Alain Tan
Vice President – Global Clients: Natalie Vandervorst
Business Director: Prachi Partagalkar
Account Director: Geraldine Yap
Sr. Account Manager: Henry Yorke
Regional Head Of Planning: Jordan Price
Senior Planner: Hui Chong Yong
Project Manager: Doris Lee

Production House: Film Pabrika
Director: Joel Limchoc
Executive Producer: Marivic San Juan
Line Producer: Lei Villena
Offline Editor: Bien Felix
Online Editor: Dolps Fernando
Storyboard Artist & Character Designer: Joel Fabonan
Storyboard Artist: Paolo Meneses
DOP/Shoot Director: Edrie Ocampo
Dance Choreograher: Ickay Eusebio
Production Staff: Gretel Teope

Post Houses:
Cirkus NZ
Animation Director: Christian Greet
Stop Motion Animation: Norman Yeend
Animators: Chris Lyne, James Turnbull, Joon Seok Yoon, Bruno Etchepare and Tim Shuo
Liu
3D modeling, lighting, texturing and simulation: Daredevil Chris Lyne and Wrestler James Turnbull
Compositing: Emma Southey-Ray, Joanna Szczepanska
Producer: Contortionist Viktoria Fortune
Executive Producer: Ringmaster Marko Klijn

RiOt
3D supervisor: Geodi  San Pedro and Dondi Fernandez
VFX supervisor: Serj Bato
3D modeller: Jem Magay, Joey Mariano, Patrick Manansala
Online Editor: Onek Vergel
Post Sales Producer: Kuy DC

TeamApp, Inc
Animation Director: Dani F. Montano
Animation Producer: Marlyn Montano
Animators: Buddy Zulueta, Jaypee Vargas, Carl Domingo
Layout Artist: Laurence Tan
Animators: Jojo Reynon, Laurence Tan
Assistant Animator: Charlo Mumar
Color Stylist: Janine Gusayko
Assistant Animator: Charlo Mumar
Digital Coloring: Mhaye Hermosa
Motion Graphics: Jilianne Epistola
Editor: Jonnel Buensuseso

Acid House
Rotoscoping:  Cherylee Sng, Mica Bautista
Design Assets: Elbert Uba
2D FX: Ivan Despi

Audio House: Loudbox
Music Composer & Arranger: Thyro Alfaro
Sound Engineer: Nioki Aquino