The film is a day in the life of Ash, cast alongside her real family and friends, and the visceral importance of her hoodie. Everything in the film is based on lived experience.

Ash’s morning routine is disturbed by her family running late. She stims with her hoodie to calm herself. This volatility continues through the school day. We see her excel at maths, but when someone accidentally brushes against her in the corridor, it sends her autism into overdrive and she retreats to the sensory room.

Once home, she gets paint on her beloved hoodie and asks dad to wash it. The tender way he folds it and places it on the banister speaks volumes.

Ash's sister's patience snaps when a therapeutic drum solo interrupts her favourite programme. She takes her sister’s hoodie. This sends Ash into shutdown, but once reunited she attends school with her close friends.

Vanish penetration has been in decline since 2018 (-102bps). As a premium priced additive, the brand is losing relevance and wallet share, most consumers (70%) still see the brand as a straightforward stain remover only. In fact, in 2021 Vanish reformulated to offer multiple garment care benefits, however awareness of this remains low (46%). Furthermore, as a discretionary laundry additive, Vanish is fighting for relevance against detergents which are increasingly claiming many of the same benefits.

In a category saturated by performance messaging, we needed to move beyond the purely functional and connect with our consumers. We needed a fresh perspective in order to shift perceptions of our product proposition and to drive relevance and usage. We aimed to achieve this via our purpose-led proposition of ‘making clothes live longer’.

Unscripted VO captured throughout film:

SFX: knock on the bedroom door

Mum: Ash, love, it’s 7 o’clock

SFX: Ash drumming her make-up brush against the table

Mum: Have you not had your breakfast yet?

Lily: No...

Dad: She’s on it!

Ash: We’re one minute late!

Dad: Traffic’s a little bit lighter on a Friday, Ash...

Mum (in the background): here, love, have this.... Mum: C’mon, Lily, off we go now!

Ash: I’m leaving!

SFX: Laughter & music on the radio, Lily and her friend chat in the back seat of the car. Both girls burst out laughing loudly

Ash: Oh my god! Lily! Shut up!

Boy: how are you already done?

Teacher: okay, Ash, let’s have a look... Teacher: That is exactly right!

Ash (to the boy, teasing): you’re gonna fail!

Boy: how are you meant to do that without a calculator?

Reacher: let’s see how you get on with this

Ash: Oh... I don’t have my overlay... I can’t read this...

SFX: chatter of a busy hallway

Ash: it’s so funny!

Ash: Someone pushed me... Friend: On purpose?

Ash: I don’t know, they just... they pushed me...

Teacher VO: I’ll ring your mum, you go and sit in the sensory room, okay?

Mum: C’mon... let’s get you home

Ash: Dad, can you fix this? Dad: Do I get a ‘please’? Ash: pleaaaaaseeeee!!!!

SFX: TV running in the background... SFX: Ash starts playing the drums, dad sighs

Mum: Ash, it’s time to get up, love

Ash: Muuuuuum... have you seen my hoodie?

Ash: I am not going into school without it! Lily’s taken it! Tell her to give it me back!

Ash: Don’t touch me!

Mum: I’m not gonna touch you. I’m just sitting here, whilst you calm down, okay?

SFX: Ash stimming

Lilly: Ash... I’m sorry... I’m really sorry...

Supers:

For Ash and many autistic people, familiar clothing can be a lifeline.

Autistic girls are 3 times less likely to receive a diagnosis than boys.

Making clothes last longer really matters. Vanish.co.uk/autism (Vanish & Ambitious about Autism logos).

Within a day of the film’s launch, it went viral on TikTok racking up 4.5 million views and counting.

There was an overwhelmingly positive response both from autistic people and their networks as well as the general public on social media, with headlines such as "Channel 4's Vanish autism awareness advert has left viewers in tears as it gets rave reviews" (Daily Record).

A broad range of conversations started to emerge, with many writing in-depth personal accounts of their own experiences, on topics including diagnosis, stimming, family dynamics, school uniform and autism accommodation.

The film was shared across closed autism support groups across Facebook, Mumsnet and has started to be adopted into workplaces and schools, the latter requesting permission to share in some instances. It was also shared by Policy makers such as MP Doug Beattie, political journalists such as Jon Snow and Suzanne Breen and mainstream celebrities.