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 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 with her hoodie, 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’.

Having made the brand connection to support the autistic community, we listened to the community and learnt the eye-opening truth that girls are three times less likely to be diagnosed than boys due to outdated misconceptions. But without a confirmed diagnosis, autistic people and their families can't receive the support they need. Although every autistic person is different, women and girls can be better at ‘masking’ their autism.

The majority of mainstream depictions of autism - include ‘Rain Man’, ‘Atypical’, ‘X + Y’ and ‘I Used To Be Famous’, all of which feature autistic men. Yet, autistic girls and women still remain largely overlooked in an already underrepresented community. 98% of autistic people believe their lives would improve through better representation and understanding Our campaign aimed to help improve women, girl's and non-binary visibility by celebrating their voices and providing support.

The dialogue of the entire film was completely unscripted and improvised from the family's real experiences.

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).