In 2020, with the spread of the coronavirus, hand washing became more important than ever before. However, kids really don't like washing their hands. In fact, the recommended time to kill viruses is 30 seconds, but the average time for children is said to be 15.3 seconds. In light of the fact that 60% of the 300 parents with children in the study were having a hard time getting their children to wash their hands, we made a proposal in search of a partner with whom we could find a solution. Without a budget, we took on a big challenge of changing the attitude of children towards hand washing.

We invented 30sOAP, the world's smallest soap that can be used up in "30 seconds", which is the global standard for hygienic hand washing. The designs were made based off of six dangerous viruses: the corona virus, influenza, ebola, SARS, adeno, and noro virus. This soap turned hand-washing into a game like experience for kids to "defeat the virus in 30 seconds".

300 parents with children were surveyed and found that 98% of the parents were aware of the importance of hand washing for their children, but about 60% had difficulty getting their children to wash their hands. The biggest reason for this was that viruses are invisible to the eye. Since children rely on "what they see" when acknowledging a piece of information, we thought that visualizing the virus would be an effective way to convey the significance of hand washing.

Production began immediately after the outbreak of the coronavirus, and we launched 30sOAP at a time when the possibility of a third wave or twindemic was being speculated. The soap was sold in more than 1,000 stores throughout Japan, at kiosks near public parks, and even online so that people could purchase it from home.

In order to raise awareness about 30-second hand washing we also:

·Launched a 30-second hand-washing music video to help kids understand the weaknesses and characteristics of viruses.

·Hosted events where participants can learn about and experience 30-second hand washing.

·Real-time promotion of hand washing through social media.

·Hand-washing awareness video by Tei, a Nursery teacher Youtuber.

·130,000 boxes sold.

·2.1+ Billion Reach

·Featured by over 400 media

·Sold in 1,000+ stores across Japan

·No. 2 in Rakuten's online soap category (No. 2 in e-commerce soap ranking)

·Instantly sold out on Amazon.com

·9 out of 10 kids responded they "enjoyed hand washing", successfully seeing a change in behavior.