Vaseline’s ad illustrates the beauty in generational rituals

Vaseline South Africa’s latest ad is an ode to heritage: winning praise from The Diversity Standards Collective and others.

Vaseline South Africa’s latest campaign has struck an emotional chord with audiences through its intimate portrayal of generational care.

Centred around the line “some traditions are not passed down—they’re rubbed in,” the ads capture a universal ritual: parents gently applying Vaseline to their children’s skin, as a metaphor for love, protection, and legacy. The phrase “Mntana Ka Gogo” is in Zulu, meaning “Grandmother’s child.”

The ads position moisturising as both a daily act and an intergenerational tradition. Rather than borrowing cultural cues, Vaseline’s creative team, led by the VML South Africa group, including Navini Ramsamie, Lesego Mkhize, and creative director Nhlanhla “Solomon” Ngcobo, explore ‘unspoken rituals’ through an everyday lens.

Industry voices have praised the campaign as a “masterclass in showing up with culture, not in it”.

Ndubuisi Uchea, CEO of Word on the Curb, said: “When I look at the ad, I see and vividly recall a young me, and my dad's giant hands. My son, and billions of others, probably see the exact same because, as the line says, 'some traditions are not passed down, they're rubbed in.'

“Moisturising so tough that it seeped into our DNA and was passed down through generations as if it was eye colour. This advert is so clearly rooted in cultural understanding, the unspoken and spoken rituals, stories and realities of people across the world.”

Rich Miles, CEO of The Diversity Collective, added: “I showed this Vaseline ad to a group of white marketers. Almost all said they’d flag it — unsure if it might be offensive. When a Black creative director with me explained the deep cultural meaning behind it, the group lit up. They suddenly saw the beauty, the heritage, and even connected it to their own family traditions. They related to it, they loved it.

“It struck me: would an ad like this ever make it past a UK agency? Or would fear and lack of cultural knowledge kill it before it reached the room? Hats off to the creators - you did a phenomenal job.”