Flipping a Switch of Kindness / Kao "Family, Love, and Merit"

The problem

Merit was born in 1970 with a simple functional promise: stop dandruff and itching. For over 50 years it's been loved as "the shampoo for families." But in recent years that message had faded into the background. In 2024, Kao decided to return to its roots, shifting toward a campaign built around the idea of cherishing family. Instead of talking about product function, they rebranded around something universal: family love.

The insight

When you think of family-themed commercials, you usually picture polished drama footage and emotional background music. This campaign was born from the instinct to go the opposite direction: simple animation, a children's song. Masatoshi Kurita of Dentsu said he wanted this to feel like a new kind of Merit commercial. Simple illustration also had the advantage of letting them show the actual shampooing scene head-on. The joy of raising a child, and the bittersweetness you feel as that child grows up. They wanted to capture, in a way anyone could relate to, the feeling that growth can't be undone—once you realize that, the exhausting everyday moments of parenting become a past you can never get back.

The idea

The first commercial in the series shows, in animation, a daughter learning to ride a bike and the father supporting her. They brought in illustrator Tadashi Nishiwaki, and the music was a children's-voice cover of Elephant Kashimashi's "Koyoi no Tsuki no You ni." No narration, no dialogue—just pictures and song, carefully weaving together the everyday life of parent and child. And the print ads are outrageously good. One shows an exchange with a child who suddenly announces "I'm washing my own hair from today," paired with the line "The final episode ends before you even notice." The power of that line is incredible. It puts you in the mindset of choosing something gentle while you're still the one doing the choosing for your child—and it ties straight back to the product's actual qualities. It's smart and effective marketing too.

What happened

Since the series launched in April 2024, it's become a huge topic on social media, with comments like "every mom and dad is crying" and "this'll have you bawling." It also appeared as posters inside JR East train cars, where the transit ad visuals went even deeper into the parents' feelings. The series continued through a fifth installment, and in July 2025 an exhibition called "Family, Love, and Merit" was held at Shimokitazawa Reload. It displayed 14 pieces of commercials and outdoor ads together, and released a full-length original cover of Ringo Sheena's "Koufukuron." It racked up 3 million views and was even featured by Nikkei Cross Trend College, earning high praise within the advertising industry as well.

Afterthought

This is next-level work. Kao is amazing when it's really trying. There's a certain body—or story, I guess—to this that lands hard with anyone who's ever raised a kid. Putting "love" front and center is something a lot of brands want to do but can rarely pull off. This team did it, and did it with total confidence. I want to use the word "love" too!

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