Zombie adventure - Clearasil | Clapboard Ad Archive

Clearasil’s 2013 digital campaign Zombie Adventure, crafted by Iris for the US market, marked a decisive move into narrative interactivity for the health and beauty category, with a sharp focus on engaging teenagers across YouTube and major social media platforms. Rooted in the contagious structure and spirit of the Choose Your Own Adventure book phenomenon, the campaign invited its youth audience to help two protagonists, Maddy and Monica, race against the clock—twelve hours to rescue Monica from a zombie fate—by making choices at critical narrative junctures, bringing a dynamic layer of participation and control to the branded experience. The storyline parodied teenage preoccupations in hyperbolic fashion: not just crushes, parties, and last-minute dramas, but the looming threat of a zombie apocalypse, all cleverly tethered to Clearasil Ultra’s positioning as the essential, ultra-fast solution for unexpected moments. By leveraging a borrowed format—what Clapboard’s taxonomy pinpoints as FORMAT#12—Parody or Borrowed Format—the campaign did not simply mimic pop cultural genres but capitalized on their inherent social currency and shareability, embedding the brand into an entertainment-first context teens cared about on their own terms. The multipart video series, hosted on YouTube and promoted via Clearasil’s Facebook and other channels, generated considerable traction, surpassing two million views and catalyzing vibrant comment threads and community interaction that extended storyline immersion beyond simple product placement. Casting YouTube and social media influencers, who also co-created the content, further elevated the campaign’s authenticity and reach, activating their built-in audiences to interact with the branded adventure and reinforcing Clearasil’s identity as a brand that doesn’t just speak to teens, but speaks with them in their own digital vernacular. Importantly, the campaign’s communications strategy resisted overt lesson-mongering or explicit product demos, instead entwining the brand message into the campaign’s reward loop—if you’re ready for a zombie apocalypse, you’re ready for anything, and that includes skin emergencies. Clapboard rates this 78/100. This campaign matters because it signals the value of pop culture remixing and interactivity as compelling entry points for health and beauty brands seeking credibility with Gen Z and younger millennial audiences in a post-broadcast landscape.