Doctors Without Borders and Mediaplus Turn Fragrance Advertising into a Statement for Humanitarian Medical Aid

Oct. 22, 2026

The ultimate luxury? Health. Yet humanitarian crises – and the medical aid they require  – often struggle to break through the noise. Too often, both fade from public consciousness. To refocus attention on lifesaving medical assistance, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) and Mediaplus have developed a Germany-wide creative media campaign that reimagines a familiar mechanism of fragrance advertising: when readers open the scent sachet attached to a print ad, they expect a fragrance but instead smell disinfectant.

In a media landscape where attention is scarce, humanitarian crises are often pushed into the background. Since 2021, Mediaplus has supported Doctors Without Borders’ fundraising campaigns in Germany through cross-media strategy and planning. For the new campaign, the two partners, together with the Mediaplus Creative Collective, have reinterpreted the familiar format of the fragrance print ad: a traditional fragrance sachet is embedded within a visual world of floral aesthetics and perfume-bottle imagery, but the usual scented sample has been replaced with disinfectant, creating a true Fragrance Without Borders. Under the slogan “This Fragrance Knows No Borders”, the campaign draws attention to a product that plays a crucial role in protecting patients and medical teams in crisis regions around the world.

Nicole Huwendiek, Senior Advisor Integrated Fundraising Campaigns, Doctors Without Borders said:

"Today, many people no longer listen to NGOs. That’s why this time we decided not to communicate through words, but through another sense: smell. Using disinfectant as a fragrance sample disrupts a familiar context and draws attention to something truly life-changing: access to basic medical care. The campaign highlights the important work of Doctors Without Borders and the fact that support remains urgently needed."

 

The campaign is strategically placed in environments where consumers naturally expect fragrance advertising – across premium beauty, lifestyle and news media. It is furthermore shared through postcards with samples, distributed via online fragrance retailer Flaconi and available in selected beauty salons. Digital out-of-home placements bring the concept into public spaces, including locations near fragrance retailers such as Douglas on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm, ensuring broad consumer reach while maximizing contextual relevance.

Elke Reibetanz, Managing Partner at Mediaplus Berlin explained:

"Attention is not a function of reach alone. An idea comes to life through context. By reinterpreting a familiar advertising format, we create an unexpected touchpoint that encourages people to pause for a moment and take notice of the vital work carried out by Doctors Without Borders. If our campaign helps increase donations for humanitarian aid, it has achieved its purpose."

 

The campaign was developed through close collaboration between Doctors Without Borders, the Mediaplus Berlin team and the Mediaplus Creative Collective, led by Global CCO Maximilian Schöngen, with the Collective also leading the creative execution. The core concept behind the scented print ad was developed together with REPUBLIC Marketing & Media Solutions.

The campaign launched on 1 October and will run throughout November across print, retail and digital out-of-home channels.