Whirlpool® is an appliance brand that had lost its way with younger consumers. Millennial and Gen Z homeowners were unmoved by the brand, preferring the hi-tech competition. Despite basically inventing the category, Whirlpool was no longer seen as innovative.
When it came time to launch their new front load laundry set, Whirlpool knew that it needed to leave a mark.
Front load laundry has always had an issue: smell. But Whirlpool’s new FreshFlow™ Vent System helps keep machine and clothes fresh. But how could ‘freshness’ feel anything but functional to young homeowners?
In 2024, the end cycle tone for the Samsung washer went viral, a simple muzak version of Franz Schubert’s The Trout. While jaunty, it’s firmly old school.. but why couldn’t a washer play a song that actually slaps? Nostalgia for the early 2000s had recently become an entire viral movement, with Y2K core peaking on social. We saw a perfect opportunity to right the wrongs of washer songs past, using music people love, all while connecting to our “freshness” innovation story. The answer was obvious: the 2001 hit “So Fresh, So Clean."
Whirlpool® created the So Fresh So Clean Washing Machine, the first ever appliance to play a hip hop song. As part of a collab with Big Boi, each of the limited-edition machines were engineered to play the song, blinged out with tens of thousands of hand-placed crystals, and featured a custom plate with Big’s signature. To launch, Big Boi took to Instagram, announcing that he’d worked with Whirlpool to create the custom machines. He also kicked off a giveaway, which continued on Whirlpool’s Instagram account. Followers could comment on each post and be entered for a chance to win their own So Fresh So Clean laundry set.
The Whirlpool® So Fresh So Clean Washing Machine campaign transformed a low-interest product launch into a pop-culture moment by making freshness emotionally relevant.
By fusing product design, nostalgia, and drop culture, the campaign drove 653MM impressions, $2.7MM in earned media, and +4 pts in unaided awareness.
On our social channel we garnered 178,000+ social engagements (119% of goal), grew our follower count by nearly 18,000 (220% of goal), and had nearly 30,000 unique entries (350% of goal).
In a category defined by function, Whirlpool became part of culture, showing how social-first creativity and engineering can deliver measurable brand impact and business growth.
