The jersey swap is a beloved NFL tradition where opponents meet at midfield and exchange their game-worn jerseys. But in 2020 the NFL banned the jersey swap due to COVID-19. Tide saw a solution in its newest product, Tide Hygienic Clean, and the Clean Jersey Swap was born. We worked with equipment managers to collect jerseys, wash them, and ship them to their new owners. Over the course of the program, 1400+ players swapped. Players became social media influencers, posting their swapped jerseys online and making every post a demo for Tide Hygienic Clean. The campaign amassed 800 million earned media impressions and increased sales by 22% - outselling the entire Persil line.

Tide reimagined the jersey swap and created the first-ever Clean Jersey Swap, working with equipment managers across all 32 teams to collect jerseys, wash them, and ship them to their new owners. Over the course of the season, over 1400 players swapped, and became influencers posting their swapped jerseys on Twitter and Instagram, and making every post a demo for Tide Hygienic Clean. ESPN organically featured the return of the jersey swap, crediting Tide and delving into its importance among players. We even extended the swap to fans for the first time through a weekly Twitter sweepstakes and made a few surprise deliveries to deserving fans along the way. On broadcast, we turned NFL legend Peyton Manning into a socially-distanced robot who spread the word around the league and to viewers at home.

The key message to be communicated was that Tide’s newest product, Tide Hygienic Clean, provided a deeper clean than the average detergent. We wanted to communicate this in a way that would appeal to the broad spectrum of football fans, with more than 16.5 million tuning in every game as the most popular sport in America, giving us the scale necessary to spread the word about this important launch. The campaign was announced on social media, and was supported on TV with 4 broadcast spots. Additionally, players shared their swapped jerseys on social media every week, keeping the program fresh among fanbases. Because we were rooted in a true NFL insight, it led to months of coverage in top-tier sports outlets, totalling 800+ million earned media impressions.

For the entire NFL season, Tide worked with equipment managers across every team to inform players they were eligible to swap, collect the jerseys, wash them in Tide Hygienic Clean, and deliver them directly to their new owners. To announce this endeavor, we created 4 spots for broadcast featuring Peyton Manning as a socially-distanced robot who informed players of the Clean Jersey Swap and helped to deliver the goods. Each week, players shared their swapped jerseys on Instagram and Twitter, reading the personalized messages and thanking Tide for making it possible. We also hosted weekly sweepstakes where fans could enter to swap with their favorite players for the first time. Ultimately, Tide facilitated over 1400 swaps throughout the course of the season, saving a beloved tradition through the power of America’s #1 clean.

The campaign officially ran for 17 weeks, amassing 800+ million earned media impressions, and increasing sales of Tide Hygienic Clean by 22% - outselling the entire Persil line. Plus, in a year of unprecedented negative social conversation, stories of the Clean Jersey Swap garnered 99% positive-neutral social sentiment.