Hasta La Creative!

Who are we talking to?
Idiots. We’re talking to idiots. Their IQ is equal to a can of Diet Coke. Their hobbies include watching TV, watching game shows, and watching more TV. Their favorite show of all time is Three and a Half Men: when Charlie Sheen was on it. Actually, they never realized Charlie Sheen left the show. They get excited about any old thing. Honestly, you should watch the focus groups. We’re planning on putting them on youtube next month under the title “Dumbest focus group ever.” This is your audience. Treat them like seals at Sea World, except without the intelligence.

Esurance has made this ad, because “as the world awaits the Supreme Court ruling on whether states should be required to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples and recognize same sex marriages performed in another state, Esurance recognizes all marriages.” There you go people, in the eyes of Esurance, everyone can get married! So this online film called #EqualDreams, is to let you all know where Esurance auto insurance stands on this issue. Now where do they stand on giant volcanos at wedding receptions?

This video honors single moms who have to be both mom and dad. Women who have to be soft and strong at the same time. These unsung heroes take on both parental roles and balance them with grace every single day. This year let’s also say #HappyFathersDayMom

Like most of the emotional people who are interviewed in this piece, I too lost my father, and will next year have actually outlived him. I’ve witnessed my mother go from a stay at home to a single parent household career woman. I know first hand what both a two parent and a single parent household is like for a child. This is why I suspect the idea here was conceived by creatives who grew up in two parent households. Or at least people who think that mothers are soft while fathers are strong. Good lord, didn’t anyone stop you and point out that’s a little seventies in its gender stereotyping? “And balance them with grace” – ugh, heavy handed writing, calm down. Look, I know what you were trying to do here, you’re running with the “A-HA” of wishing mom a happy fathers day, what an unexpected twist, le snore. And this is well executed with a good selection of people who grew up with a single mother, their mothers all sound great – plus you’ve avoided the “deadbeat dad” trap by having people state their fathers sadly died, well done. These peoples emotional responses and cutesy stories are pushing all the right buttons. There’s even a little humor in “I don’t know if that’s a thing” regarding moms idiotic fighting tips.

But “Happy Fathers day Mom”? Watch me hiss like a big cat and tell you; that’s what Mothers day is for.

But then, perhaps the target market are all “graceful” widows in middle America, what do I know.

Now Hollywood star Josh Lucas acts as the spokesperson, walking through small town Americana being superbly patriotic and apple-pie with every skip, all the while asking you, dear gun owner to “Clear It. Check it. Lock it.”. Lucas thanks you for “being an American who does not leave your firearm in the couch cushions, or on a ledge above the playpen”.

The ad is clearly targeting responsible gun owners, and hoping they’ll find the humor appealing enough to share the clip with… irresponsible gun owners?
“We need to make safety aspirational and free of finger-wagging. We need to get to a place where we’re talking about gun safety before someone gets hurt, rather than after,” says Rebecca Bond, Co-Founder of Evolve. “If we’re going to get America talking, we have to talk about it a way that people can hear and that’s what this campaign is all about. We’ve created an ad that could run during the Super Bowl. It talks to America in a way that is apolitical, non-judgmental and entertaining.”

Rebecca Bond, the co-founder of Evolve, used to work in PR. Her soundbyte skills are super-bowlian. The PR outreach is sidestepping any political divide – or at least attempting to – by reaching out to all media and of course gun magazines and avoiding the second amendment discussion by simply stating they’re “pro-alive kid.”. The website for Evolve has been revamped as well, and Evolve wants Americans to help make history in the next 30 days by signing a petition at www.evolveusa.com advocating for the official designation of “National Gun Safety Day”.

Will this tactic work? While it is quite entertainingly funny, it still feels a little like we’re preaching to the converted. Even with Josh Lucas wrapping himself up in the American flag after saving it from burning on a BBQ. We can only hope the message sticks with those people who leave guns lying around the playpen.