SHANGHAI, CHINA — Procter & Gamble has launched an environmentally friendly public welfare program named Responsible Beauty, comprising a visual storytelling campaign created and produced by global production company Sweetshop.
The fashion-themed film chronicles a journey of lost and found. It follows a dancer and several models in a P&G factory, wearing accessories made from recycled plastic. As the shots change, the actors dance to the beat. The close-ups, motion, and collision of colors create an almost magical symphony of dance, music, color, and artistic direction.
The accessories worn by the dancers and models are manufactured from discarded plastic bottles recycled by residents of the village of Fuliang. In the P&G factory, the waste plastics were shredded and sorted. The P&G team worked together with the workers, who were usually accustomed to assembly line operations. Using more than 3,000 knives of manual cutting and over 10,000 hours of ingenuity, they achieved the transformation of waste plastic into works of art.
The P&G factory was selected as a World Economic Forum “Lighthouse Factory” this year for its continuous exploration in the field of sustainability. After treatment, industrial wastewater from the factory is utilized for restrooms, garden ponds, cleaning, watering flowers, and other purposes around the factory, reducing wastewater discharge by 42,000 tons per year.
As a cradle of recycled plastics and a pioneer in the green supply chain, the factory is undoubtedly an excellent location for this film. With the full cooperation of the project team and the factory employees, the filmmakers recreated the beauty and spirit of recycled plastic in the place where it is produced.
Duanmu Kris, who directed the film, said, “The project is designed to upcycle waste plastics into unique artworks, so that discarded plastics can be recycled in a more valuable way, giving recycled plastics an artistic and life-affirming rebirth.”
In the fast-moving consumer goods industry, everything that does not immediately provide results or benefits is often referred to as “useless.” “But more often, things like ‘beauty,’ which are commonly considered useless, are more likely to withstand the precipitation of time and continually export vitality to the outside world like living beings,” Duanmu said.
“From the villagers and children who recycle plastics to the workers and partners involved in the production of the film, everyone is an artist injecting unlimited power into the regeneration of beauty which makes us more courageous and confident in realizing our vision.”
She added, “The concept and inspiration of the film is based on the expectation for ‘beauty of rebirth.’ We rediscover all the magic that awaits and dance to a new beat. It’s one of those journeys I will always remember vividly.”
CREDITS:
Client: Procter & Gamble Haircare Responsible Beauty
Executive Creative Director: Duanmu Kris
Executive Producer: Zhenzhen He
Director: Duanmu Kris
Creative Team: Duanmu Kris, Jiahui Chen, Ritong Chen, Yimei Sun, Mengdie Xu, Ying Jiang, Yiyi Zeng, Yining Xue, Qitong Lin
Recycled Plastic Jewelry Artists: Beiya, Duanmu Kris, Jiahui Chen
The Master Workers of Shenzhen Beauty Star Co., Ltd
Carving: Youxiang Zhang
Mill Pressing: Meng Lan
Wire Drawing: Haitao Xu
Crushing: Yanxing Xu
Plastic Recycling and Regeneration: Shenzhen Beauty Star Co., Ltd
Acknowledgement: P&G (Guangzhou) Huangpu Factory, Benjamin, Tom, Lao Xu, Juan, Rebecca
Production Company: Sweetshop Shanghai
DOP: Qichao Chen
Global Director of Production: Fiona King
Senior Executive Producer: Catherine Law
Executive Producer: Lilian Li
Producer: Eric Liu
Production Assistant: Touie Li
Production Assistant: Alice Cui
Line Producer: Ryan Li
Production Assistant: Mansy Wu
Production Assistant: Jie Zai
Offline Editor: Anaïs Siab
Post Production (Grade): The Mill, Shanghai
Producer: Shirley Huang
Senior Colourist: Agua Jiang
Online Artist: Patrick Firmansyah
Audio Post Production: Hush Studio, Shanghai
Producer: Kelly Lv
Sound Mixer: Jia Xi
