In the ’90s, when I was still working in advertising, my art director and I wrote a series of laundry detergent commercials that won awards all over the world, including one for the best ad made anywhere in our multinational client’s global network. Winning so many awards was very nice, and the campaign certainly set up our careers, but the nicest accolade I can remember was a phone call from a viewer. There is one group who rarely see themselves represented – the old.
Credit: ISTOCK One of the ads featured a slightly awkward moment when an ex-husband tried to make conversation with his ex-wife while bringing the kids home after an access visit. Stuck for something to say, he made inane remarks about the laundry she was sorting. But the wry humour of the script was not what prompted the viewer to call our client.
“Thank you,” she said, “for showing divorced people and their families as normal, as just another part of the community.” Advertising, especially on TV, was much more powerful in the ’90s than it is now. But it still matters.
And while we may dismiss it as trivial, we are also fascinated by it. Social researcher Hugh Mackay says we love ads because they talk directly to us about our ordinary lives. The success of the ABC’s Gruen – 16 seasons and counting – is testament to the power of that.
The viewer who bothered to pick up the phone to heap praise on a laundry detergent commercial felt seen by that 45-second commercial, and less judged and exc.