The Cleft Choir - Listerine, Watsons, Operation Smile Thailand | Clapboard Ad Archive

The Cleft Choir campaign from Listerine, Watsons, Operation Smile Thailand, and BBDO Bangkok redefined oral wellness storytelling in the Thai personal care market in 2022 by reframing what a fundraising initiative can be: instead of dwelling on hardship, it boldly celebrated the transformative possibility that access to proper surgery brings for children born with cleft lips and palates. With over a thousand babies each year affected by cleft conditions and facing fundamental challenges in speaking, eating, and breathing, Listerine aligned its brand promise and category leadership around the fundamental right to a healthy mouth for all. The campaign, realized across Digital, Film, and Out-of-Home, sidestepped the predictable narrative of pity in favor of a demonstration of post-surgical potential through a national music event: a choir made up entirely of children who had undergone corrective surgery joyfully performing a beloved Thai hit using only their newly restored voices and breath — the essential symbols of the brand’s core benefit. This vibrant act harnessed what Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#9—Symbolize the Benefit, using the living symbol of the children’s healthy breath to dramatize the possibilities opened by oral health and to make Listerine’s relevance unmistakable both emotionally and functionally. The execution was strategically shrewd, weaving together mass reach with personal engagement via interactive QR codes on product packs that turned supporters into virtual choir members, fusing donation mechanics with direct brand experience. The creative also reinforced cultural relevance by channeling local music culture and a message of community uplift, helping the public envision a future where every child can speak, sing, and live fully. The campaign not only reached national consciousness with 20 million views and 88 million earned media impressions but generated real-world impact, with at least 50 children receiving life-changing surgery as a direct result. Clapboard rates this 78/100. As brands in the personal care sector seek fresh ways to demonstrate foundational health advocacy, The Cleft Choir shows that the most resonant and mobilizing work elevates benefit symbolism above function, embedding real social progress within creative expression.