What made this spot so good? Yoplait Yogurt - #MomOn
Part one in a series of articles I’m writing where I deconstruct examples of good contemporary advertising.
As creatives, we constantly strive to make something that’s memorable. We have a lot of tools in our toolbox to do this. Depending on the campaign and the brand we can lean on any one or combination of the following: Entertainment, humor, drama, irony, absurd, poignant, emotional, relevant, educational, scary or political.
This week I look at the 60-second spot for General Mills Yoplait yogurt by the team at 72 & Sunny.
The problem: Long sales slump.
The solution: Empowering message for those moms who get shamed.
72 & Sunny’s group creative director Justine Armour wanted to support moms who get ridiculed for breastfeeding in public, wearing yoga pants or having kids later in life. The spots portray moms embracing these things where they are often judged by catty comments on social media.
Goal, action, complication, resolution
Whenever a scene or sequence isn’t working, it’s usually because one of these four things is missing. It’s such a basic concept, but when you don’t have them all, it shows!
Look at Justine’s spot. The characters complication is immediately set up in the first half of the story. The breastfeeding mom gets the evil eye from a couple walking in the park.
The goal of our main characters is to enjoy motherhood despite the rough edges. The actions that happen are comical and real. A good way for moms to relate. Who hasn’t used a five-dollar bill to bribe your kid to do chores?
This leads us to a humorous resolution when we see a kid clutched to mom’s leg who was apparently overdue for a snack. Mom says a great little stinger to cap off a well-done spot, “It's not made with cage-free Norwegian hemp milk."
Press Play Test
Clearly, a lot of complicated timing went into the success of this script. A method I like to use to see if my idea is working is called the ‘press play test.’ It’s somewhat easy to pitch an idea to the group when I can stand up and act my way through it with funny voices and props. But is the idea good enough without me performing like a show monkey?
I draw out every story beat using stick figures, throw them in a timeline, record scratch voices and edit it down in Final Cut Pro. This animatic has to pass the ‘press play test!’
I email the video to someone who has no notion of what the concept is. Usually my wife or a friend. Even better if this test audience isn’t in the creative business. I ask just one question: “Do you get it?”
Stick figure storyboard frame from a recent spot for Ship Sticks.
If it passes this test, I know I’m on to something good.
Your turn! What’s your creative process? How do you test ideas before you get into production? Let us know in the comments.