There's a grown man loitering outside the women's room, but he's no creep. He's a single dad waiting for his young daughter. And a few years later, that same guy is getting a different bathroom door slammed in his face because his teenage offspring is "becoming a woman" but absolutely doesn't want to chat with him about it.
A new campaign from Angel Soft intends to "uncover the insightful little moments that we can all appreciate but that you don't see much in advertising," says Karen Costello, executive creative director at Deutsch, the brand's agency.
Three new ads continue under the brand's tagline, "Be soft. Be strong," that Deutsch kicked off about a year and a half ago with digital spots. These are the first in the series to air on TV. See the three spots here:
As a category, toilet paper has tended to focus strictly on product attributes, not emotional heart-tugging stories, Costello says. Her team zeroed in on families, aiming to bust some gender stereotypes and find an untapped niche in the marketing message. And if consumers were touched enough to shed a few tears, well, Angel Soft can double as facial tissue.
"We've tried to weave in the product and brand truths with some human truths," Costello says. "We're finding that intersection to be really fresh and resonant."
"Be soft. Be strong" has so far increased Angel Soft's dollar share and bumped up sales by 6 percent, according to the Georgia-Pacific brand. It launched with a spot called "Happy Father's Day, Mom," an ode to single mothers, and continued with "Grander Parents," about grandparents raising their grandchildren (because of absentee parents).
It's an unusual tack for toilet paper, one that Costello says will continue, given the bottom-line success and the social-media kudos garnered for the brand (thousands of likes and consumer stories shared).
The new ads deal with the truisms of pregnancy—"I've never peed this much in my life," says the character in the spot, "Little Dude"—and a father consoling his young son about a first breakup with sweet bromides like, "When I was your age, the only girl who would talk to me was Grandma" and "I had no game, son."
"We see families in media all the time, but sometimes it's just the surface and not always what really happens," Costello says. "We want to talk about how we actually live and highlight some of the unsung heroes."
CREDITS
Client: Georgia Pacific/Angel Soft
Chief Marketing Officer: Douwe Bergsma
Senior Vice President, General Manager, Bath Tissue: Vivek Joshi
Senior Marketing Director, Brand Center: Shari Neumann
Director, Brand Building: Aviral Singh
Senior Brand Director: Andrew Noble
Senior Brand Manager: Todd Wingfield
Brand Manager: Jeannie Chacko
Associate Brand Manager: Brian Harrison
Social Media Manager: Gisela Carapaica
Agency: Deutsch
Creative Credits:
Chief Creative Officer, North America: Pete Favat
Chief Digital Officer, North America: Winston Binch
Chief Creative Officer: Jason Bagley
Executive Creative Director: Karen Costello
Creative Director: Melissa Langston-Wood
Copywriter: Ashley Milhollin
Art Director: Dan Rosenberg
Director of Integrated Production: Vic Palumbo
Executive Integrated Producer: Rachel Seitel
Senior Integrated Producer: Jesse Ferguson
Music Supervisor: Eryk Rich
Senior Audio Producer Chase Butters
Account Management Credits:
Group Account Director: Steve Sanders
Account Director: Lauren Pollare
Account Executive: Bianca Brittain
Account Planning:
Executive Planning Director: Jeffrey Blish
Group Planning Director: Kelsey Hodgkin
Digital Strategist: Janet Shih
Junior Strategist Leigh Citarella
Business Affairs/Traffic:
Director of Integrated Business Affairs: Abilino Guillermo
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Terry Miglin
Executives:
CEO, North America: Mike Sheldon
President, Los Angeles: Kim Getty
Live Action Production Company
Production Company: Humble
Directors: Samuel & Gunnar
President/ Executive Producer: Eric Berkowitz
Executive Producer: Marc Kovacs
Head of Production – NY Natalie Warkenthien
Head of Production – LA Fyza Griggs
Line Producer: Gary Romano
Editorial Company
Production Company: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Heidi Black
Producer: Annie Maldonado
Post Facility
Production Company: Company 3
Senior Producer: Liza Kerlin
Senior Colorist: David Hussey
Post/VFX:
Production Company: Method Studios
Executive Producer: Robert Owens
Artist: Aiden Thomas
Licensed/Composed Music, Credits and Track Info:
Company Name: Yessian Music
Track: Little Dude Stare cp3a
Composed by: Chris Plansker
Creative Director: Andy Grush
Executive Producer: David Gold
Sr. Producer: Katie Overcash
Company Name: Yessian Music
Track: Just Dad swk1a
Composed by Sam Kearney
Creative Director: Andy Grush
Executive Producer: David Gold
Sr. Producer: Katie Overcash
Company Name: Yessian Music
Track: First Breakup ajk1c
Composed by: Ami Kozak
Creative Director: Andy Grush
Executive Prodcuer: David Gold
Sr. Producer: Katie Overcash
Audio Post Company:
Production Company: Lime Studios
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan
Mixer: Mark Meyuhas