You can’t make a grown man cry for a glass cleaner.

 

When trades try to reveal a conspiracy behind a wildly viral piece you’ve drawn some attention for your client. Although the Adage (article) is satire, the millions and millions of views in less than a week, blogs, reposts and Ads of the Day revealed how the world is starving for simple, emotional stories.  Shot entirely through glass surfaces and built on an insight of how they quietly intersect our lives, combined with a stirring song by a 12 year old budding artist/songwriter, Grace Vanderwaal,  it was the perfect recipe for Windex to relaunch its brand. It in effect, launched her first music video and 2018 tour as well. (article) The film was so massively popular it was voted YouTube’s ad of the year winning over 70% of popular votes. (article).

 

It got attention.

PRESS ALERT || Aug. 21, 2017 (NEW YORK) -- The American Council of Emotionally Manipulative Advertisers (ACEMA) today issued a special directive to its brand and agency members instituting a moratorium on so-called "cry before you buy" commercials. The directive, which calls for a six-month freeze on filming and distributing ads designed to make consumers tear up, encompasses categories of manipulative marketing including the council's MEM (momentary eye-moistening), RMC (rapid mouth-clasping) and OSI (outright sob-inducing) rating classes...  (http://adage.com/article/media/are-advertisers-trying-too-hard-to-make-us-cry/310174/)

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