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Flush with Ideas

Helping Louisville MSD teach toilet etiquette with a little potty humor.

Background

Louisville Metro Sewer District (MSD) serves over 200,000 customers across a 110-square-mile service area. Their job entails building, repairing and maintaining the sewer system and processing wastewater – but it also involves coping with the, um, aftermath of millions of toilet flushes each day.

Problem is, sometimes folks flush things they shouldn’t, like cotton swabs, “flushable” wipes (pro-tip: they’re not flushable), deceased goldfish – and other items that can damage home plumbing and cause real problems at MSD treatment plants. So when MSD needed an engaging way to educate customers about the rules of the flush, they rang us up.

INDUSTRY

Public Works

SERVICES

Branding
Creative Development
Public Relations
Market Research

Strategic Approach

The messengers for our flush-education initiative? The MSD Bowl Patrol, a noble, grime-fighting cartoon trio made up of the only three items you should ever flush down your toilet: pee, poo and toilet paper: aka the ‘Three Ps.’

Initially, the Bowl Patrol was featured only on print collateral and posters. MSD challenged BCH to bring the Bowl Patrol to life in a bigger way to delight, entertain – and most importantly, educate – our community on what’s okay to flush – and what could cause problems.

Creative Solution

The natural answer to bring life into the Bowl Patrol was to create video spots. But first we had to develop the personalities of each team member. After that, we started writing scripts and looking for voice talent. (After all, not just anyone can perform as a pile of poo.)

Then we animated existing flat images of the Bowl Patrol to turn them into living, breathing – and talking – characters. The result? A delightful, unexpected series of shorts that bring the Bowl Patrol to life and, most importantly, educates residents throughout Metro Louisville on the finer points of flushing.