Pantene turns heads with new shampoo commercial star Keanu Agl
Angelo is one of the first (if not the first) male figures who star in an ad for products historically marketed for females.
From Anggun C. Sasmi to Maudy Ayunda. Most Indonesians must have known these names, and for those who don’t: both are big celebrities and well-known brand ambassadors of Pantene in Indonesia.
Sasmi had been the local icon for the shampoo brand since 2008 — so iconic that there is numerous academic research analyzing her impact on the brand, before the brand introduced its new ambassador Ayunda in 2018. Both have similar features: long, black, healthy hair, and most importantly — a woman.
Now, what if we swap their elegant personas into something entirely different? Like a male figure, with long messy hair AND a grumpy personality. Readers, meet Keanu Angelo, star of the newest Pantene commercial:
Portrayal in female-targeted brand’s video ads
Angelo is a 24-year-old Instagram celebrity with 4.6 million followers on the platform. He is a unique social media personality known for his unapologetically frontal and funny jokes, his confidently wearing women-targeted clothes, and often feature (and be featured in) the daily life of his other famous circle of friends. He is also known for another thing: having long hair which is pretty uncommon for male influencers.
The first 4 seconds of the video starts with Keanu, with his grumpy talking style (seriously, go watch the ad with English sub to get the sense of how unique he is), getting angry at the audience who wants to skip the video. “Yaudah sana, capek gue!”/ “Whatever, I’m tired!” is his line. He then realizes that, instead of himself, the one who is “tired” is his hair. So, he needs to use the new Pantene Pro-V Blends & Biotin hair supplement to recharge his hair.
So what’s wrong with that? In essence, nothing. The storyline is pretty common for a one-minute commercial. However, it’s worth mentioning that Angelo is one of the first (if not the first) male figures who star in an ad for products historically marketed for females. Despite an ongoing debate about why males and females need different shampoos, Angelo’s case is indeed an anomaly. People are talking about it online and mainstream media are making it news.
So how did he end up being the new star of Pantene ad? Perhaps it’s because of his popularity amongst younger generations, his unique personality, his long hair, or a creative marketing/ communication approach? Let’s dig deeper.
Storytelling approach built by the brand
Beyond the final video ad, there are various narratives surrounding Angelo’s appointment as a brand partner that caught my attention.
Angelo and the brand made it seem like Angelo was the one who started conversations on his “tired hair” before his followers made the hashtag #rambutcapek (#tiredhair) trending. Angelo then uploaded a screenshot of a message from Pantene who reportedly contacted him to offer a partnership. His followers were excited. Then, the grand video was published less than 2 weeks later.
As a communication grad student, I’m naturally curious to analyze their strategy to come up with this story. So, since I know no one who works at or for P&G (*wink*), I tried finding as much information as possible and breaking the timeline of the key checkpoints:
2021, late November (I assume, even earlier). This recorded story of Angelo’s conversation with another influencer Fadil Jaidi is the earliest proof I could get where the #rambutcapek conversation “organically” started. In the video, Jaidi asked Angelo’s followers to ‘tease’ him by sending a message with #rambutcapek. Interestingly, Angelo and Jaidi’s conversation were re-uploaded by many on TikTok, a few of them with #disponsori (sponsored). Additionally, the term had been introduced by Pantene itself in October 2021.
2021, November 20. Angelo shared a screenshot of his Instagram message from his followers, teasing him with #rambutcapek. The post itself got more than 270,000 likes and almost 3,000 comments. Boom! The hashtag went viral.
2021, late November - early December. Local mainstream media like Cosmopolitan, Parapuan, and Kompas.com started writing about #rambutcapek and featuring Angelo’s Instagram story on the same hashtag. From a PR practitioner’s perspective, these could be the perfect example of successful listicle stories pitched to the media.
2021, December 24. Pantene reportedly reached out to Angelo, noticing his “organic” #rambutcapek journey and offering an exciting partnership with him. How many of you believe that this is the first time the brand and the influencer established contact?
2022, January 2. TADAAAA! In less than two weeks, Pantene launched a new ad of its new Miracle Hair Supplement featuring Angelo. The YouTube video gained more than 8 million views, 173k likes, and almost 10,000 comments mostly praising the creative idea behind the commercial.
Despite my doubt about the originality of the overall omnichannel story flow, the campaign gained an enormous amount of attention. On TikTok, videos with #rambutcapek have gained a total of 41 million views, social media users reported the scarcity of the product due to its popularity, and more interestingly, men seem to start using the female-targeted product as well (this is possibly a paid partnership, but there must be a ripple effect on this).
Another step forward to inclusivity in personal care products?
For decades, Marketing professionals have been leading us to believe that men and women need different shampoos. They are so convincing that I, as their target (woman with hair), rely on gender-based considerations to support my purchase. For instance, despite coming from the same company Unilever, I would much rather prefer Tresemme rather than Clear since the latter features male soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo posing with its product.
Don’t get me wrong: there is absolutely no secret that product segmentation by demographic (such as age and gender) is marketing’s strategic move. The P&G hair care line is obviously a female-targeting shampoo brand. So, it is natural for them to work with well-known women figures to both attract and represent their key public. Well, Angelo proves otherwise.
Both Pantene and P&G deserve some form of recognition as well. This is not the first time the brand (globally) goes against typical representation in its commercial.
In March 2021, the brand introduced inclusive ad which featured two mothers with a trans daughter as the stars of the ad. Additionally, more recently in November 2021, Pantene featured a popular TikToker with disability Lucy Edwards as the brand ambassador of one of its product ranges. This further proves that it is indeed the global brand’s direction to start more inclusive advertising.
In Indonesia, personal care products like skincare has been heading towards a more inclusive direction. The Bath Box have been seen featuring males to promote its body wash and deodorant, while make up brand SASC works with male influencers to encourage confidence and positivity.
Overall, Pantene’s groundbreaking partnership with Angelo gave such a refreshing angle to how big brands advertise and position their products in the market. Moreover, the brand’s creative approach has also intrigued me to be more curious about the past and future marketing/ communications practices. I am excited to see how this affects the brand’s performance this year and how likely other competitors and similar brands will follow.
