Emotional isolation. A loveless marriage. The gnawing regrets of adulthood. Welcome to the surprisingly dark and awkwardly humorous "Mom Confessions" ad campaign for LG appliances.
At first, these four spots from Hill Holliday seem like pretty standard daytime TV fare: A mom waxes light and cheeky on her favorite dish washer, refrigerator, washing machine and oven. But taken together, they paint a rather bleak portrait, like a cross between FX's Louie and Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.
In one, she praises the speed of her LG washing machine before quickly noting: "My husband's fast. Too fast. I do not like that." Then, when he arrives home for an unscheduled nooner, she looks like she'd rather climb inside the washing machine and cotton-cycle herself into the great hereafter.
"I used to be hot," the mom muses in another spot, about an oven. "In college. Before kids. I was hot. All the boys wanted me. Look at all those cookies packed in there. I did that. I'm still hot."
The voiceover is provided by Leslie Mann, perhaps best known for playing the similarly world-weary mom, Debbie, in Knocked Up and This Is 40.
Each ad is cynical almost to the point of satire. And that's a good thing, because without that edge, we're left with another fake family living in a fake world of fake happiness. Instead, LG gives a welcome nod to the fact that ennui is a pretty standard aspect of domestic life.
Of course, none of this dark and jaded introspection is mentioned in the press release, where LG says the campaign "celebrates the everyday moments and inner dialogue that we believe all moms can relate to."
For better or worse, that's probably true.
CREDITS
Client: LG Electronics
Senior Manager, Brand Communications: Angela Smith
Agency: Hill Holliday, Boston
Chief Creative Officer: Lance Jensen
Executive Creative Director: Joe Fallon
Group Creative Director:
Creative Director: Mary Rich
Associate Creative Director:
Copywriter: Joe Fallon / Justin Galvin / Scott Noble / Ben Huser
Art Director: Mary Rich / Fernando Pina
Designer: Marcio Lima
Animator: Marcio Lima / Scott Woolwine
Illustrator: Marcio Lima
Agency Producer: Paul Shannon, Katelyn Kennedy
Account Team: Kerry Benson, Scott Adler, Lizzy Jenkins
Project Manager: Kaitlyn Blanchette
Planner: Baysie Wightman
Social Media Director: Mike Proulx
Social Media Strategist: Kelsey Graham
Production Company: Station Film
Executive Producer: Thomas Rossano
Managing Partner: Stephen Orent
Director: Brendan Gibbons
Cinematographer: Matthew Woolf
Line Producer: Kate Sutherland
Production Designer: Joe Cooney
Still Photographer: Francesco Lagnese
Digital Director: John Running
Digital Developer: Rob Erskine/ Michael Walton
Digital Tech Lead: Steve Callan
Experience Architect: Maggie Foley
Quality Assurance Specialist: Chris Martin
Interactive Producer: Kaitlyn Blanchette
Edit House: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Adam Robinson
Music House: HiFi
Music Producer: Jack Bradley
Sound Design Company: Soundtrack
Sound Engineer: Mike Secher
Post Production-VFX Company: Brickyard VFX
Flame Artist: Dave Waller
Executive Post Producer: Amy Appleton
Post Production- Color Correct/Telecine: Company 3 / Tim Masick
Art Buyer: Kate Geskos