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Energizer Holdings has entrusted its automotive business, encompassing brands like Armor All and Nu Finish, to the full-service ad agency Camp + King. As part of this consolidation, Camp + King has collaborated with Nu Finish to reintroduce the brand to both new and existing car enthusiasts through a campaign showcasing its authentic side.

Nu Finish holds a distinguished legacy of transforming car exteriors and is a long time, trusted brand in the car care sector. To contemporize their legacy with a modern, relatable essence, Camp + King sought inspiration from Nu Finish’s iconic “Junkyard” ad featuring The Once A Year Polish(r). In the ad, Nu Finish puts its products to the test on junkyard clunkers to prove its efficacy in a bold way.

To adapt this concept for the digital age and capture the attention of today’s social media audience, Camp + King devised a real-life experiment where they treated old clunkers with Nu Finish, then challenged car lovers to identify if a vehicle was brand new or polished with their newest product, the Nu Finish Once A Year Polish & Sealant. The setup involved concealing both the new and old cars under tarps, with only a small square of paint on each car exposed. This experiment was unveiled at a prominent car show where car lovers congregate, ensuring that only the most discerning car enthusiast's eyes were part of the experience.

During the experiment, Camp + King captured the genuine reactions of car enthusiasts as they deliberated, speculated, and marvelled at the vehicles’ true identities once revealed. Throughout the day, the crew captured shock, dismay and amazement as nearly every participant could not tell the difference between the new car and polished cars, underscoring the efficacy of Nu Finish’s products.

The campaign yielded a diverse range of captivating video assets crafted for optimal impact on social media. These assets include a long-form video as well as shorter versions spanning 15 and 6 seconds. The shoot also produced exciting and fast-paced organic content and ‘Reaction Reel’ featuring a montage of genuine expressions of surprise and delight from car enthusiasts. Utilising footage of real enthusiasts and car lovers was an ideal way to create an authentic connection with their audience on social media, where testimonials and influencer content works to support an always-evolving market of new products and ways to detail a vehicle.

“What a way to pay off live and unedited reactions from car lovers on the efficacy of this exciting new product and further our creative partnership,” said Lori Shambro, CMO of Energizer Holdings. “This brand has such a wonderful legacy of restoration, and we wanted to show our newest innovation’s ability to deliver authentic results with ease and the reactions you see through this campaign really showcases that.” Filmed in December 2023 at Irwindale Speedway in California, Nu Finish used this opportunity to launch their newest product, the Once a Year Polish and Sealant. The 2-in-1 formula effectively restores your car's exterior while providing year-round protection against the elements. Updating a classic ad for the modern era seemed fitting for launching an innovative product that builds upon the brand’s legacy of transformation.

Joey McRobert, associate creative director from Camp + King, helped lead the project. He said, “This was a great first step in establishing a more authentic connection with the Nu Finish audience. It’s inspiring when a brand is willing to take risks—like a docu-style shoot with real people—because bold moves are what capture attention and move the needle. I am excited to see where this partnership goes.”