You may or may not be aware of the most recent Honey Maid advertisement, but the 30-second spot featuring the hashtag #thisiswholesome lasted far more than it’s 30-second media buy…it’s making a true impact.
If you already saw it, you may have preexisting feelings about the content. If not, see it here so you can form your own.
In a nutshell, the company choose to demonstrate the definition of #wholesome by showing various depictions of families. The ad features gay couples, biracial couples, and straight couples – happy couples with children. Apparently, by showing what real life is like and celebrating differences, uniqueness, and accomplishments can be absolutely horrific to some.
And that is number one. The first reason why this campaign was more than an ad is because it made a statement. It was stated, loudly and clearly, that families come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and with varied beliefs. The ad showed what the world is like today, not just snapshots of what we “think” it looks like based on cozy sitcoms and traditional definitions. The campaign showed what is wholesome – the concept of love within our “modern” families.
The second reason why this campaign is amazing is because they were one step ahead of the haters. After the ad was released, Honey Maid and their agency knew there was going to be backlash. They knew that people would take to Twitter and other social media outlets to express their emotions – whether they were positive or negative. But what they did with the negative feedback, was take the comments, roll them up (literally), and turned them into a rebuttal message of tolerance and love by creating a 2D display of the word “love” – all documented in a response video ad.
Honey Maid and their agency were ready, they responded in real-time, and they did so unapologetically.
The third reason is that this campaign is more than an ad is that it has levels. Although Honey Maid is ultimately promoting their graham crackers and appealing to various demographics and earning support (and that isn’t a bad thing), they are teaching lessons in life, love, and marketing. Anyone who has followed this campaign can learn something. Maybe you learn that love is blind or that tolerance speaks volumes. Or maybe you learned being ready is half the battle and that in today’s world, it takes more than a smiling face and sunny day to make a difference and stand out. No matter what you learned, the fact is, you learned something.
To me, this campaign earns a big fat “Kudos!” The campaign stands out for a great reason and makes great strides toward changing our attitudes and minds by exposing reality in a big way. Let’s hope that other companies and agencies choose to follow suit and keep pushing positive messages that need to be heard.