Hispanic Consumers to Add Sabor to Kleenex Packages

Kleenex wants to get some Latin flavor onto its packaging to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in September 2009, and to that the brand is running a contest to find up to three artists who may provide Hispanic-themed motifs for Kleenex boxes.

Titled “Con Kleenex, Expresa tu Hispanidad” (“With Kleenex, Express Your Hispanic Culture”), the competition, activated by Kimberly-Clark’s multicultural agency MASS Hispanic, is looking for package designs and artwork that will seem culturally relevant to the Hispanic audience.

Entrants can submit in a number of different media both digital and actual, including paintings, photographs, weaving, metal crafting and sculpture. Online submissions can be made at the contest Web site.

Kleenex contestants will also submit a short essay explaining how their creation relates to Hispanic heritage along with a personal photo. The competition is only open to non-professional artists 18 and older who are legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. Contestants can enter a maximum of three art works.

Electronic art can be submitted through Jan. 31, 2009; artwork sent through the mails must be postmarked by Jan. 31 and received by Feb. 6. A panel of judges selected by Kleenex parent Kimberly-Clark Global Sales will choose 12 finalists from among the entrants shortly after, on the basis of authenticity, creativity, workmanship, Hispanic relevance and alignment with Kleenex brand values.

Those dozen submissions will be posted to the contest Web site around Feb. 22 and put to a public vote through March 22. The judging panel will then go back to the 12 finalists with the popular vote in mind and select three grand-prize winners.

Those winners will each get a $5,000 cash prize and may get to see their artwork translated to a 3-D Kleenex package, specifically the small one known as the “upright.” Those packages would then hit store shelves by Sept. 1, 2009, the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, and remain available through October 2009.

The remaining nine finalists will be declared first-prize winners and will get $500 cash awards.

Using its retail packaging to express a link to Hispanic culture is a powerful recognition of “the growth and importance of Hispanics in America, as well as a unique opportunity for budding artists in our community to exhibit their work on a truly national scale,” Hispanic radio psychologist and Kimberley-Clark spokesperson Dr. Isabel Gomez-Bassols said in a statement.

Kimberly-Clark has worked with MASS Hispanic on past ethnic campaigns for its paper products brands. In fact, the agency won a 2008 Pro Award from Promo for its work in designing and executing a campaign for K-C’s Scot Tissue brand that celebrated Hispanic folk sayings.