To prevent cancer, just touch this special piece of wood

'Superstition can't cover you', according to a clever fake-product campaign carried out this month by Prudential Assurance Malaysia with Bonsey Jaden.

Starting in early July, an apparent brand called Unsuay ("suay" means "bad luck") appeared and began promoting, on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, a series of products that claimed to ward off cancer: A piece of wood, a 'Choi' pin with a speaker to "yell away the threat of cancer" and a plastic hand dubbed the 'Suay slapper'. 

Clicks led to pages on a Prudential site that gently chided the clicker for considering such products and then explained the company's PRUcancer X offering, which provides coverage for cancer treatments, recovery cost and lost income. 

On Tuesday of this week, the brand revealed the truth in a Facebook post.

Ad Nut absolutely loves this: The way it's tuned to the target market through the use of local language, the way it pokes fun at superstitious beliefs without being too heavy-handed about it, and the funny deadpan videos explaining the products themselves (at the top of this page and below). 

Many brands and agencies talk about the importance of delivering locally relevant campaigns, but it's comparatively rare to actually see the trick pulled off so well. Nicely done. 

CREDITS

Agency: Bonsey Jaden Malaysia
Executive Creative Director: Adam Chan
Creative Group Head: Abby Tai, Jeremy Ng KT
Copywriter: Audrey Lee, Jeremy Ng KT, Alicia Hew
Art Director: Abby Tai
Digital Designer: Ilisa Izhar
Creative Services Manager: Ashley Lai
Strategic Director: Taryn Mook
Strategic Planner: Melantha Tan
Social Media: Brendon Lee
Group Account Director: Chin Han Yu
Senior Account Manager: Zoe Chua
Account Executive: Eugene Ng
Senior Digital Project Manager: Joanne Ng
Producer: Riza Johari

Client: Prudential Assurance Malaysia (PAMB)
Head of Digital Marketing: Natasha Sebastian
Digital Marketing Manager : Yap E-Foong

Production Company: The Tankers Sdn Bhd
Film Director: Naoto Mitake
Exec. Producer: Pete Singh, Pat Singh
DOP: Julian Oh
Producer: Gray Loi
Production Coordinator: Zax, Jun
Production Assistant: Marion, Jiong Zheng
Art Department: Seni Lab
Editor: Dave Singh
Post Production: Spot VFX
Audio House : Fuse Adventures in Audio

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