MNTANA KA GOGO
Brand
VASELINE
Entrant Agency
VML SOUTH AFRICA
Category
Social & Influencer
Award
Silver
Festival & Year
Cannes Lions (2026)
Case Study Details
Vaseline - Mntana ka Gogo (Case Study) | Campaign
Heritage Day: an extremely overtraded and cluttered day in the South African social media calendar. There's a lot of noise as brands compete to jump on the bandwagon. This piece for Vaseline, created to celebrate the brand's 155 year heritage as a staple in South African households, ignited the imaginations of South Africans in communities all over the country - and abroad because it evoked so powerfully a ritual millions of us have grown up with. Proving that some traditions are passed down. They're rubbed in.
Credits:
- Client: Unilever
- Brand: Vaseline
- Advertising Agency: VML South Africa
- Holding Company: WPP
Presentation Board
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Background
Heritage Day is a holiday that celebrates the essence of South African culture
and shared traditions. Our challenge was to reconnect the brand's 155-year
heritage with a new generation of audiences who value authenticity and identity.
In many South African homes, uGogo (grandmother) is more than a matriarch,
she is a nurturer, storyteller, and the keeper of family traditions. One of her most
tender acts of care is rubbing Vaseline on a child's face before school or church.
This universally shared ritual carries warmth, familiarity, and nostalgia across
generations.
Idea
s GOGO AD UNEARTHS
DEEP MEMORIES - ENCA
VASELINE’
Views Reach
The idea was to transform a universal cultural truth into a digital celebration of
heritage that honours uGogo's wisdom, while bridging generations through
storytelling and participation. By blending cultural authenticity with modern O
expression, we reimagined grandmother's touch for the digital age, turning 31 5 oe S %
nostalgia into pride and shared memory for a social-first landscape. This was
reinforced with the line “Some traditions are not passed down, they're rubbed in.” Engagement Positive Sentiment
e
Solve (Execution)
Over
To mark Heritage Day, the campaign was launched with a social-first digital
execution. 1 @) 1 y ]
Visual Language: The hands of uGogo became the visual storyteller, wrinkled, Mentions Likes (on a repost)
nurturing, and wise, contrasted against the youthful face she lovingly touches.
The imagery of Vaseline being rubbed in captured the emotional core of heritage
and care. This wasn't a one-way campaign, it empowered users as co-creators,
using digital storytelling to preserve identity rather than dilute it.
Comments Reshares
Mntana Ka Gogo proves that when heritage meets digital storytelling, magic
happens.
| views
By honouring the simple, universal act of uUGogo’ss care, the campaign built 0:09 25 Sept 25 5.2M
emotional equity, inspired global participation, and turned a moment of nostalgia
into a modern celebration of African pride and continuity.
18k Reposts 835 Quotes 162k Likes
4 Follow
+ Follow
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#patOnBrands #Vaseline Unileve
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