Andrex supports England football team during 'squeaky bum time'

Andrex, the Kimberly Clark-owned toilet tissue brand, and FCB London released two ads in support of England’s bid to win the UEFA European Football Championship final as they went into their match with Spain on Sunday.

The first was a full-page letter addressed to the England football manager, Gareth Southgate, philosophising on how a great England team is a lot like a great poo. Written on a roll of Andrex toilet tissue, the letter states that “you should never hold back, what your stomach is telling you to set free. Sometimes in life you’ve got to throw caution to the wind. And when it’s Squeaky Bum Time, you should flush all inhibitions.”

Shot by Tom Cockram, the full-page ad ran in the Sports section of The Times on Sunday. Media buying was handled by PHD.

Building on the 'Squeaky Bum Time' phrase – a football term coined by Sir Alex Ferguson for when things get tense – the brand also ran OOH ads in Manchester and London, with media buying handled by PHD and London Lite.

Both executions were part of Andrex’s 'Get Comfortable' brand platform created by FCB London. Launched in March this year across TV, OOH and VOD, the platform is based around the truth that too many Brits are held back by their prudery and embarrassment about going to the toilet, and don’t have a healthy relationship with their bodily functions, which Andrex, the UK’s biggest toilet paper brand, is aiming to tackle head on.

Speaking about the work, Kyle Harman-Turner, ECD at FCB London said: “The “Get Comfortable” platform is enabling Andrex to go from a brand without a voice in culture, to one that has generated over 10 million impressions on X [formerly Twitter] alone. Thanks to a massive team effort from everyone at FCB London, we were able to tap into the Euros and help break down the taboos around the subject.”

As England prepared to play Switzerland in the Quarter finals earlier this month, Andrex also ran a full-page ad in the Sports section of The Times on Saturday 6 July, encouraging Jude and the entire nation to 'Hold Nothing Back'.