Safeguard (舒肤佳) is giving handwashing a cultural twist. The Procter & Gamble brand has teamed up with hit food show One Meal to Immortality (一饭成神) as its official ‘healthy meal buddy’ or as Chinese netizens say, meal partner (饭搭子). The collaboration delivers a message of washing one’s hands before eating to cleverly tie hygiene to one of China’s most social rituals: dining together.
- #一饭封神 reached 220 million views.
Through a series of online activations, Safeguard invited people to post their own meal-making videos on Weibo under the hashtag #一饭神 (lit: one meal and you’re crowned legendary), a thread that’s already clocked more than 220 million views.
Safeguard know the power of celeb engagement, so celebrity chefs Qu Yuyu (曲郁宇) and Yang Yanbin (杨彦斌) who partnered with the brand for short ads, highlighting Safeguard’s oil-control wash and antibacterial soap, the mess, steam and spitting oil of a kitchen their backdrop.
Offline, the campaign went to four Chinese cities during the Golden Week holiday, launching pop-ups and meet-the-chef sessions. Visitors could sample food, grab autographs, and – of course – wash their hands.
So, what’s Safeguard doing right here? Well, they’re piggybacking on a hot trend in China at the moment. The meal partner (饭搭子) thing is a popular term among Chinese youth – one splashed across social media and ripe for a company that wants to align themselves with a cultural zeitgeist.
By leaning into the meal partner trend, Safeguard is attempting to get a seat at the table. By linking its product to the very act of dining, Safeguard turns clean hands into the first course and a signal that the meal can begin.
