With Mother’s Day approaching, it occurred to me that it might be interesting to look at two different brands’ approaches to telling stories related to being a mom, especially since we’re well passed the days of parenthood as a homogenous, traditional expression of one woman, one man married in the same house forever.
In One Corner, Wells Fargo
Here, we see a well scripted story unfold in 60 seconds flat. The people in it, for all we know, are as far from the people they portray as one can be.
And in the Other, Hallmark
This is from their #PutYourHeartToPaper series. These are “real” people… not actors (right?). There is no script (or so we’re led to believe), and it’s also 39 seconds longer.
Both campaigns attempt to wring emotion from our hearts, but I’m curious about which one you think does it more authentically.
In my opinion, the Wells Fargo spot does a much better job. Even though these people are actors, the humanity of the story is so much more palpable. We don’t have the brand trying to hijack the conversation with canned, leading questions. But also… how dumb do you think we are, Hallmark? You expect us to believe you arranged these meetings between kids and their parents without both of them knowing about it?
Even if I suspend belief long enough to give Hallmark the benefit of the doubt about that, I can’t get passed how flat the kids’ reactions are. Nothing happens when what sounds like a well rehearsed voiceover artist says “Your mom is here.” There’s no emotion. It’s like “yeah. I know my Mom is here. We shared a cab on the way over to this nice studio you set up.”
See, even when you use “real people” and “unrehearsed dialog” you don’t necessarily get “authentic” creative execution. In fact, it’s far too easy to completely drain the well of free authenticity that comes with “real people.”
I know it’s difficult to present an idea and get client buy-in when you’re dealing with a documentary-style approach. That’s why it’s important to help everyone understand that you’re going into the situation with a plan, but you’re also going to remain open to discovering unexpected gems within the story. Otherwise, the Hallmark examples are the result… they’re just flat and not very authentic. When it comes to being genuine, marketers need to be hyper-aware of things that smell disingenuous, and creatives need to have the guts to tell our clients when they’re getting in their own way.