Emotive film captures the stark realities of sanitation deficiencies that many South African school children face daily.
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 – Domestos South Africa’s commitment to raising more awareness about the impact of poor sanitation in SA schools, and its efforts to help solve this crisis from the ground up, come to life in a hard-hitting integrated campaign.
The campaign calls on South Africans to join the fight against unsafe sanitation and poor hygiene that has gripped South African schools over the years – a problem affecting children’s ability to learn in dignity, health, and safety.
“Thousands of public schools remain under-serviced, with millions of children forced to use facilities that are often little more than a degraded toilet, negatively impacting them physically and psychologically,” says Antony Esyalai, Home and Hygiene Marketing Director at Unilever SA. “We are voicing our commitment to continue helping to address unsafe sanitation in a new brand film that drives the campaign while revealing the true impact of unsafe toilet facilities on the emotional and physical well-being in striking visual storytelling.”
The evocative film portrays a fictional young girl, named Tshepiso, in a rural school, embarking on the dangerous journey of using poorly maintained toilets – from wet and muddy floors and dripping ceilings to broken basins and grime-covered toilets.
The film culminates in a renewed, safe, and sanitary block of toilets – the result of Domestos’ decade-long intervention in addressing the poor sanitation in schools across South Africa.
“We wanted to capture the raw emotions and the intense fear some children feel when they walk through some of the toilet facilities, and how this can have a deeply adverse effect on their sense of well-being,” Esyalai says. “Through this film, we wanted to increase awareness of the sanitation crisis by representing the learners who are severely impacted by poor sanitation. As a show of our commitment to fighting the sanitation crisis in South Africa, we want consumers to join us in our efforts to help deliver adequate sanitation to millions of learners across the nation and fulfil our purpose to win the war against poor sanitation”.
Over the past 10 years, Domestos’ purpose has been to win the war against unsafe sanitation and poor hygiene. The brand has been at the forefront of supporting the education sector through a comprehensive programme that has reached over 5 million learners.
This programme is based on three key pillars:
- Refurbishment – funding the building of new toilets at in-need schools across the country.
- Maintenance – training janitors and teachers on maintaining and managing their toilet facilities to ensure that they stay clean and hygienic for learners.
- Education – teaching good hygiene and sanitation habits in 15 000 public primary schools in partnership with the Department of Education through the National School Hygiene Programme
Domestos is bringing consumers along as it continues on this journey. By purchasing a 750ml Domestos bleach product between November 2021 and March 2022, South Africans contribute towards impacting a further 1 million learners in 2022.
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