For generations, Vicks has been more than a remedy; it's been a rite of care, quietly passed down from hand to hand, heart to heart, and this Heritage Month, Vicks invites South Africans to wrap themselves in that legacy.
This Heritage Month, Vicks launches a Vicks Heritage Blanket designed by rising star illustrator and pattern artist Zinhle “Zee Feels” Sithebe (Image supplied)
Every South African home has one. That little blue jar, nestled in the bathroom cabinet, stashed in grandma’s handbag, or sitting on the bedside table.
Vicks VapoRub.
Just the name alone sparks a thousand memories: the warm rub on your chest before bedtime, the menthol tingle that cleared your nose, or that moment of calm when your mother whispered “breathe” as she rubbed it on your back.
This Heritage Month, Vicks launches a Vicks Heritage Blanket designed by rising star illustrator and pattern artist Zinhle “Zee Feels” Sithebe.
A limited-edition collector’s item and a work of wearable art, the blanket fuses bold patterns, national symbols and emotional storytelling in a warm embrace of identity, memory and care.
Meet Zee Feels: A heart in full colour
Known for her vivid pattern work, joy-soaked designs and a magnetic personality that radiates from every syllable she speaks, Zee’s journey as an artist is stitched with both tenderness and tenacity.
Zee discovered early that her crayons were more than tools; they were portals. She studied Visual Communication at the Open Window Institute, specialising in graphic design and illustration, and went on to collaborate with major brands like Coca-Cola, Facebook Africa and Nando’s, where her love for pattern exploded into public view.
But at the core of Zee Feels is something gentler, something personal. “Zee Feels is about the feels,” she says.
“It's about reminding people to be kind to themselves, to play, to honour their uniqueness. That’s what I try to put into everything I make.”
Designing a blanket that speaks South African
When Vicks approached Zee to design a blanket that would mark both Heritage Day and the brand’s 100+ year legacy in South Africa, it was a match made in meaning.
Zee didn’t just design a blanket.
She composed a love letter to South Africa, one motif at a time.
“I wanted to create something that doesn’t look like anything we’ve seen before – not just a copy of the Basotho blanket but still feels familiar, still feels like us,” she explains.
Working with a strict two-colour brief (a challenge for someone known for her kaleidoscopic palette), Zee pulled together national symbols, childhood memories and cultural artefacts to tell a layered story.
- A Vicks shield with the South African flag
“It symbolises protection, comfort and shelter. Just like Vicks does, it wraps you up.”
- A mielie cob
It’s a staple in my Zulu home and on the streets. That grilled corn you buy from the mamas on the roadside? That’s us.”
- The Springbok at the centre
“It’s not just about rugby. The springbok represents resilience – and South Africans are resilient.”
- The ProteaInspired by the national coat of arms, the protea in Zee’s pattern stands for unity, growth and possibility.
A blanket of stories, a story of us
For Zee, this campaign was more than a creative brief. It was personal.
“I was a sickly kid,” she notes. “I was born premature, with asthma, allergies, you name it.
“My grandmother in KwaZulu-Natal always had Vicks on hand. She’d rub it on my neck and back and chest after a bath, and I’d start laughing because I’m ticklish.
“But it was love. Now it’s a memory of shared laughter, of care and caring that I treasure.
”That memory, shared in countless homes across the country, is what this blanket honours. It’s a shared language of comfort. A ritual of care made visible.
And it’s this emotional chord that the campaign as a whole strikes so beautifully.
Vicks: Not just in the cupboard – in the culture
What makes this campaign so compelling is how Vicks transcends product to become something almost poetic; a symbol of everyday love.
“In a world that often feels cold, Vicks is that warm touch,” says Tania Da Conceicao, Vicks senior brand manager.
“It lives in every home, across every language, race and income level. It’s part of who we are.
“And with the Heritage Blanket, we hope that Vicks becomes tactile. Something to hold, give and share. Something more than merch – perhaps a memory made real.”
What Zee hopes you’ll feel
Asked what she hopes people feel when they see or receive the Heritage Blanket, Zee pauses and smiles, “Home. Comfort. Pride.
“I want someone from another country to see this and say, ‘That’s so South African’. And I want South Africans to say, ‘This is mine.’ I want people to feel seen.”
She also hopes young artists will see what’s possible.
“I hope it inspires young artists to see the value that their art, especially as a part of a commercial product, can bring to others.
“I would like them to say, ‘I can do this too. I can be me. It can make a difference."
A final fold: the story continues
As Zee’s story illustrates, great things happen when you lead with care – for yourself, for your heritage, for your people.
The Vicks Heritage Blanket is more than fabric; it’s a story woven in stitches, a piece of visual poetry that cradles the past while reaching toward the future.
Launched under the banner Relief is in Our Roots, the initiative includes a short film and a social media campaign encouraging South Africans to share “what Vicks means to you in three words,” and the donation of blankets to local charities.
Every interaction, from a comment online to a shared memory, helps “wrap South Africa in relief”.
