The Andrex Case Study: How a UK Brand Mastered Absurdist & Relatable Humor for Social Impact

So there’s this wild stat floating around marketing circles: 91% of people want brands to be funny, but only 5% actually do it. Makes you wonder what everyone’s so scared of, right?

Turns out, while most brands are still playing it safe with their boring corporate speak, one particularly gutsy UK brand has cracked the code on something way more interesting. They’re not just making people laugh – they’re getting them to actually care. And the secret weapon? Getting wonderfully, beautifully weird.

Why Normal Doesn’t Work Anymore

Think about your own social media feed for a second. How many brand posts do you actually stop scrolling for? Probably not many. That’s because most marketing feels like wallpaper – technically there, but completely forgettable.

The brands that actually grab attention these days are the ones willing to talk about stuff nobody else wants to touch. The awkward moments. The embarrassing truths. The things that make people go “Wait, did they actually just say that?”

Recent research backs this up pretty hard. About 88% of consumers actually respond well to brands that aren’t afraid to get unconventional. Problem is, most companies are still terrified of stepping outside their comfort zones.

When Toilet Paper Got Brave

Perfect example: Andrex decided to tackle something most brands wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. But this wasn’t some random decision – it was actually years in the making.

Started back in June 2022 when Andrex first teamed up with Bowel Cancer UK for their #GetOnARoll thing, putting bowel cancer symptom info right on their packaging. Pretty tame stuff, but it was a start.

Fast forward to March 2024, and they were ready to go big. Really big. They deepened that partnership with Bowel Cancer UK, throwing over £2.3 million at it (£300,000 straight donations, plus £2 million in marketing spend) for a three-year deal. This time they weren’t just slapping health messages on toilet paper – they launched this whole “Get Comfortable” platform about breaking what they called the “poo taboo.”

The insight that drove everything? British people are literally making themselves sick because they’re too embarrassed to talk about completely normal body stuff. Their research showed 75% of UK school kids won’t use school toilets, and 59% actually hurt themselves holding it in all day because they’re too mortified to go.

Instead of some boring corporate wellness message, they went completely honest. The campaign kicked off with this Celebrity Big Brother diary room takeover in March 2024 – Sharon Osbourne and other celebrities talking about toilet habits while sitting on chairs made from Andrex rolls. Mental, but effective.

Then came the real masterstroke in May 2025: their “First School Poo” campaign. Their hero ad followed this kid who accidentally farts in class. But instead of dying of shame like you’d expect, his classmates start actually cheering him on. Literally chanting encouragement.

Sounds like a nightmare brief, doesn’t it? But here’s what they did with it.

Completely bonkers? Absolutely. But it worked because every single person watching could remember being that mortified kid. They took universal embarrassment and flipped it into something empowering.

The numbers tell the story too. The ‘Get Comfortable’ campaign reached 15% of UK adults in just six weeks, with the initial goal of reaching 60% by December 2024. More importantly, they actually got people talking about bowel health – which was exactly what the Bowel Cancer UK partnership was about.

When they dug into their targeting data with help from Ocado’s buyer information, their return on ad spend was five times higher than they’d expected. Not bad for a campaign about poop.

The Method Behind the Madness

This isn’t just random weirdness for attention. There’s actually a pretty clear playbook emerging from what Andrex pulled off.

Finding Those Universal Cringes

The best campaigns start with moments everyone recognizes but nobody talks about. That requires actually listening to people instead of just demographic data. You need to find experiences that feel deeply personal but are actually shared by loads of people.

Like being embarrassed about normal body functions. Or pretending you understand something when you don’t. Or that specific panic when your phone dies in public. These moments work because they’re simultaneously specific and universal.

Making the Weird Work

Here’s where loads of brands mess up. They think being random equals being memorable. But there’s a difference between strategic absurdity and just being annoying.

The humor has to actually serve your message, not fight against it. There’s this thing called the “vampire effect” where entertaining content completely overshadows what you’re actually trying to say. The brands that avoid this trap, like those using Maximum Effort’s approach, keep their product at the heart of even the most absurd campaigns.

Good absurdist marketing amplifies your core message through humor, not despite it. Take Duolingo’s approach to viral marketing – their absurd content always serves their language-learning mission. But remember, the weirdness should make people remember your brand, not forget it.

Building for Shareability

Creating content people want to share means thinking beyond just one platform. What works on TikTok won’t work on LinkedIn. What gets shared on Instagram might bomb on Twitter.

The smartest campaigns plan for this from the beginning. They create different versions for different audiences, but with the same core message running through everything. Short and snappy for TikTok, longer storytelling for YouTube, interactive elements that get people creating their own content.

Connecting to Something Bigger

This is where things get interesting. The most successful absurdist campaigns aren’t just about getting laughs – they’re about starting conversations that actually matter.

Andrex wasn’t just making toilet jokes. They were trying to reduce the stigma around bowel health discussions, which genuinely saves lives. That deeper purpose gives the humor weight and makes it feel less frivolous.

But here’s the catch: it has to be genuine. People can smell fake purpose from a mile away. If you’re just slapping a cause onto your campaign for good PR, audiences will see right through it.

Beyond Bathroom Humor

This approach works way beyond toilet paper ads. The key is finding those moments where your audience thinks “Finally, someone who gets it” instead of “What the hell were they thinking?”

Take any category and there are probably dozens of unspoken truths just waiting for someone brave enough to acknowledge them. Banking has awkward money conversations. Insurance has all that denial about bad things happening. Dating apps have the whole pretending-to-be-casual-while-desperately-seeking-connection thing.

The beauty of absurdist marketing is how it cuts through the noise. When everyone else is being predictable, being genuinely unexpected becomes incredibly powerful. It’s not about shock value – it’s about honesty in unexpected places.

Measuring Success Properly

Counting likes and shares barely scratches the surface with this kind of marketing. Real success shows up in how people actually talk about your brand, not just whether they double-tap your post.

Look at sentiment in comments. Are people sharing because they genuinely connect with your message, or just because it’s weird? Track how your campaign influences broader conversations about your brand across different channels.

Earned media value becomes crucial here. When your campaign gets picked up by news outlets, discussed on podcasts, or becomes part of cultural conversations, that’s worth way more than paid impressions.

The biggest benefits often come months later. Successful absurdist campaigns don’t just create momentary buzz – they shift how people think about your brand long-term. They build personality and create emotional connections that outlast the campaign itself.

The Risks Nobody Talks About

Let’s be real about this: getting weird with your marketing can backfire spectacularly. You need bulletproof guidelines for what’s acceptable, clear protocols for cultural sensitivity, and crisis plans for when things go sideways.

Starting small makes sense. Test weirder content with smaller audiences before going full absurdist on national TV. Build your organizational confidence gradually instead of jumping straight into the deep end.

The biggest challenge isn’t external – it’s internal. Most companies are built around avoiding risk, not embracing it. Legal departments hate uncertainty. Executives worry about backlash. Customer service teams fear increased complaints.

Making absurdist marketing work requires cultural change inside your organization. People need permission to be vulnerable, to take creative risks, to respond quickly when opportunities arise. That’s not easy when your entire corporate structure is designed around predictability.

Where This Goes Next

Absurdist marketing isn’t just a trend – it’s a response to fundamental changes in how people consume and respond to brand communications. Traditional advertising interrupts. Absurdist marketing invites participation.

The brands that master this balance will build relationships instead of just awareness. They’ll create advocates instead of just customers. They’ll become part of cultural conversations instead of just background noise.

But success requires commitment beyond just creative execution. It demands authentic brand personality, cultural awareness, and measurement sophistication that goes way beyond traditional metrics.

The question isn’t whether this approach works – the data proves it does. The question is whether brands have the organizational courage to embrace genuine vulnerability in service of real human connection.

For those that do, the rewards go far beyond marketing metrics. They get to build brands that people actually care about in a world where most marketing gets ignored. That’s worth being a little weird for.

Want help building something bold for your brand? Contact us. Or if you’re into case studies like this one, there’s more on our Insights page.

FAQs

1. What is absurdist marketing?

Absurdist marketing uses weird, unexpected, or exaggerated humor to grab attention and cut through the noise. It works because it taps into awkward truths or shared experiences in ways that feel real — not polished or corporate. When done right, it makes people stop, laugh, and actually remember the brand behind it.

2. What is a vampire effect in advertising?

The vampire effect happens when your ad is so entertaining or weird that people remember the joke but forget the brand behind it. It’s like when someone quotes a funny commercial but has no clue who made it. In absurdist marketing, this is a real risk. The humor should always serve the message, not overshadow it.