Voltaren and Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland take on Brazilian public with ‘Mystery Volleyball’

Night is falling on Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro and unsuspecting passers-by are invited to play a Mystery game of Volleyball. In a glow-in-the-dark environment, they have to face two mysterious female volleyball players. It’s impossible to tell what they look like, but from their moves, the audience can assume that they are physically very fit, and potentially athletes. But when the lights are switched on, and much to their opponents’ surprise, it is revealed that the two women are actually over fifty years old.

The ‘Mystery Volleyball’ event and film are part of the ‘You’re only as old as you move’ campaign conceived by Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland on behalf of body pain expert, Voltaren, a GSK Consumer Healthcare brand. The campaign aims to challenge prejudices, that people have around pain and movement, with a compelling story featuring two Brazilian women in their 50s, Carla Cury (56) and Vania Verneck (53), performing a series of age-defying beach volleyball games facing much younger opponents.

The campaign brings to life the core purpose of Voltaren – whatever your age, and despite muscle or joint pain, you can still experience the joy of movement. Both protagonists have been playing volleyball for around 40 years and regularly experience body pain, which they treat with Voltaren (Cataflam PRO in Brazil). The casting process was integral to the film, in finding real women who regularly rely on Voltaren to be able to play Volleyball at a high level.

Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland ECD Jan Teulingkx said: “We are on a mission with Voltaren to prove that the joy of movement is ageless. So, we created the youngest possible environment, beach volleyball – one of the newest Olympic sports, on Copacabana beach with loud music, neon lights and phosphorescent paint… Finding out that the ones kicking ass are two ladies in their fifties that love what they do: playing volleyball. When you see how they move you know that old age is a thing of the past.”

  brazil, Campaign, Carla Cury, experiential, GSK, Jan Teulingkx, Marketing, Promotion, Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland, Vania Verneck, Volleyball, Voltaren