Featured image for Your Butt is Behind You No Matter What: Preparation H Launches New Brand Expression

Your Butt is Behind You No Matter What: Preparation H Launches New Brand Expression

by Chloe Gordon on 03/04/2022 | 2 Minute Read

No one liked to talk about Hemorrhoids, but Preparation H has released its newest brand expression designed by Elmwood that helps challenge the previous inhibitions surrounding the topic. By using a humorous approach, Elmwood was able to tackle the subject. The copy includes vocabulary such as "derriere" and "rump" instead of dilapidated medical terminology. Thanks to Elmwood, Hemorrhoids are nothing to be ashamed of, and the products' branding isn't to be hidden.


Leading hemorrhoid treatment brand, Preparation H, has unveiled a fresh visual brand expression that plays on humor in order to challenge the taboos associated with butt health and appeal to all consumers.

Preparation H, part of GSK Consumer Healthcare, has been available since the 1920s and, today, is America’s number one brand for hemorrhoid treatment. In recent years, new challengers and direct-to-consumer brands have emerged in the hemorrhoid space, and have brought with them fresh and modern visual identities.

Editorial photograph

Preparation H wanted to ensure that it could maintain its market-leading position and appeal to all consumers. Global design consultancy, Elmwood, was picked to develop a new brand expression that would help future-proof the brand. 

Elmwood’s unique approach to branding involves tapping into consumer tensions to create meaningful and memorable brand ideas. From the start, the tension facing Preparation H was clear. Most people will experience hemorrhoids at some point, but there’s a shame attached to talking about it openly. Elmwood saw an opportunity to tackle the taboo head-on by leveraging humor to create a more relatable brand expression.

Editorial photograph

To capture this, Elmwood created a series of funny and highly shareable illustrations, animations and images that would form the basis for Preparation H’s wider brand comms.      

The copy is packed with colloquialisms (rather than using cold medical language, it plays with words like ‘keister’, ‘rump’ and ‘derriere’) and uses witty captions such as, “Your butt is behind you no matter what”. This sense of playful confidence is also encapsulated with a quirky and retro typeface.

The new brand expression will be unveiled on Preparation H’s social media channels and on a microsite, built by ad agency Grey Group and featuring Elmwood’s content, that will allow customers to create personalized Valentine’s Day cards for their loved ones, www.fromyourbum.com

Krista Oraa, Elmwood’s Creative Director said: “Preparation H has a unique place in the market. We knew there was an opportunity to enhance this by creating a brand expression that is built on humor to challenge the stigma associated with this area of health. With the new assets we created, Preparation H now has a reinvigorated brand that builds awareness across a broader demographic and signals change to the consumer.”