THE NINE
HEINZ HOT KETCHUP
AD
No greater boon exists for moth-
ers trying to get their kiddies to eat
something reasonably healthy than
Heinz ketchup—which at least dis-
guises the unfamiliar taste of veg-
etables for long enough to shovel
them into a child’s mouth. Most
ketchup ads—therefore—feature
MO
boring shots of a happy kid smiling
adoringly at mummy as she pours
the gloop on. Thankfully, not this
one. Instead, because it’s for hot
Extensive research* tells us that May 10 is the
ketchup, we have a mummy dragon
anniversary of the first celebration of Mother’s
bottle feeding her baby. Awwwr.
Day—way back in 1908. It was the start of a
commercial boom aimed at guilting kids into
doing something nice for their mum once a
year, but it also highlighted the importance of
mothers as an independent demographic. Over
the next century, marketers came to realise that
mums not only hold the purse strings, but also
make many of the major purchase decisions
DERMODEX
in any household. Here, we hail nine ads that
One of the main tacks taken by adver-
tisers when targeting mothers is: ‘We
exploit that fact to the full
understand what it’s like to be in your
*Wikipedia
situation’. Which they probably don’t.
But still, it seems to work. This ad for
BURGER KING
nappy-rash preventative Dermodex
Food companies, of course, long ago caught on to the idea that
is a prime example, stating that it’s on
it’s usually the mother who decides when, what and where the
the first page of the magazine because
family will eat. Burger King’s ‘warrior mum’ will, we’re told, no
most mums won’t have time to read
longer face lunch time battles over what her offspring will stuff
much further. Just in case that doesn’t
their tubby faces with, thanks to BK’s new Angus mini-burgers.
work, it also includes a huge shot of
The ad aims to connect with mums by recognising this daily
a cute baby. Then goes into overkill
struggle, but also to alleviate their guilt by promising to offer
by including animated woodland
“Quality you can feel good about”. Which kind of depends on
creatures on the brink of ecstasy. We
your standards.
get your point.
VW GOLF
Car advertising is still dominat-
ed by macho imagery, but there
are some notable exceptions in
which companies have realised
that women—and particularly
women with children—play a
RENAULT
major role in choosing family
The sappiness of this Venezuelan ad is almost forgivable—it
cars. So paramount concerns—
was released on Mother’s Day—as it attempts to romanticise
besides whether the vehicle is
a child’s car journeys with her mother. So fantastic are they, it
‘a pretty colour’—are safety and
seems, that even a trundle down the road to the supermarket
storage space. This ad for the
seemed like a trip to the funfair. Whether that magic was due
VW Golf Variant concentrates
to the Renault or the mum’s company is unclear. Actually, on
on the latter.
second thoughts, we can’t forgive the sappiness.
18 / 10 MAY 2009
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