Colgate Is Serving up Social Change One Cup of Coffee at a Time

All it takes to make a fundamental change in someone's life is a cup of coffee, a social enterprise organisation, UK’s leading oral care brand, a free-to-air public service television network, and a committed production company with a keen ear for the voices of real people. Enter Change Please, Colgate, Channel 4 - and production studio Armoury London.

Award-winning creatively led production studio Armoury produced 'Supporting the Dental Health of Homeless Communities', a docu-style advert about Raphael, who experienced homelessness at 17. The ad’s executive producer was Armoury's partner and senior producer Lauraine Bhuglah and was directed by Jack Lawrence.

Finding Raphael, says Bhuglah, was a meticulous process of selection and elimination. Raphael’s story was both heart-wrenching and inspiring, says Bhuglah. At 17, Raphael struggled with his teeth and gums. As a person without a permanent address. He was not able to receive dental care. Raphael was helped medically and supported by Change Please through professional training to become a barista. Today, he works as a barista and a trainer on the barista programme.

“To see how he has overcome adversity, how the Change Please foundation has helped him was moving,” she adds, “and that huge smile of his is captivating.”

Director Jack Lawrence believes that there is a lot of "corporate virtue signalling going on in ad-land these days."  He advises treading carefully "to ensure that the jobs we commit to are making a real and tangible difference to the lives of those that big brands pledge to support."

Lawrence says: “The ad really highlights the basic needs unavailable to people who are having a bad moment in their lives.” Asked if he set out to amplify the voice of the underrepresented, Lawrence said that Armoury’s ethos is "to create advertising that has the potential to change people's belief systems, not just to sell stuff." He finds a project or a story interesting when they are “stories of real people who had real struggles.”

'Supporting the Dental Health of Homeless Communities' features TV presenter and actor Karim Zeroual. The ad launches with Channel 4 branded introduction on Gogglebox and runs until 15 July across the Channel 4 portfolio and Colgate’s owned platforms.