In the early morning of March 18, Champion detergent and Super 8 supermarket were preparing for a different kind of Sunday shopping.

Super 8’s biggest and newest branch on Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, had an unusually busy prep for opening. A flash fashion show was about to happen right smack on payday-weekend grocery shopping.

RANDY (above, right) styling his Spring-Summer collections

The task was to communicate that Champion detergent protects clothes from stubborn stains by easily washing them away. The idea was to turn supermarket aisles into a fashion runway and have models attack each other with ketchup, mustard, cheese and mayonnaise.

To demonstrate how Champion detergent protects from stains, the models would wear tailor-made plastic clothes over designer threads. Filipino designer Randy Ortiz would put his latest Spring-Summer collection to the test, with Jackie Aquino directing the event.

Male model wipes off stain using Champion Infinity bar.

At around 3:30 p.m., the first of two runs happened. Just as shoppers were busy filling up their carts, Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” blasted out of specially installed speakers. From the back stockroom, the models made their way in between aisles before a surprised crowd.

WHO SAID stains are not enjoyable? With Champion detergent, one can feel secure.

Before the song’s second stanza, cellular phones were already out and people positioned themselves for the best shooting angle. After a few turns on the catwalk, the models took out their plastic bottles and started blasting away at each other with condiments usually reserved for one’s favorite sandwich. The run ended with a final pose that showed the models wiping away the stains with a Champion bar.

The second run happened an hour after and catered to an even bigger crowd. The Super 8 cashiers and grocery baggers got in on the act by filling the big warehouse with their catcalls and cheers. At the end, the shoppers posed for pictures with the models.

THIS is how a ketchupstained Randy Ortiz polo looks like.

Just as the crew was packing up and the models were getting out of their clothes, it was their turn to be surprised. Shoppers who caught just the tailend of the show were asking for one more run. They just had to give in to the request. So, an unexpected third run ensued.

As the lines in the cashier stalls got shorter and the shopping came to an end, it was clearly a successfully disrupted day. Champion got its message across in a truly unique way and Super 8 became the very first supermarket to ever hold a fashion show.