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When we were asked at the end of 2009to help think about the visual communication for the Cleaners Campaign from the Dutch labour union FNV,we could not have imagined that this would turn out to be a love for life. 

After about ten years of out-of-the-box campaigning with and for this group of marginalized workers, the campaign ended after thirteen years. This turned out to be the moment for us to make a publication of the most epic moments from those years.
 Cleaners Campaign
Organizing in the Cleaning Sector 2006-2019
2014
Client FNV

We visited clients with camels and ostriches, spent nights at draughty stations, sewed the largest cleaning cloth in the world ('as big as a football field') as a show of support, developed the Waste Museum together with artist Matthijs de Bruijne and filled lobbies with foam. We visited hospitals with a CSI lamp, made adbusting part of our signature and marched through all the cities in the Netherlands. We awarded prizes to the stingiest clients ('the Copper Dustbuster') and won the award for the best union campaign in the world in Tokyo. Because 90 seconds to clean a toilet is simply not enough. You can try this at home. 

Detour was also responsible for designing a logo and visual identity that is now used worldwide and provided conceptual and strategic input for the campaign. Thanks to the campaign, cleaners now earn above the minimum wage and are the only professional group in the Netherlands that has had Labour Day stipulated in the collective labor agreement as a holiday. But above all, it was not about money, but a battle about values. About respect and appreciation.



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de Vrije Wolf
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Marnix de Klerk 06 19446337
Nina Mathijsen 06 17570018