Just occasionally, a piece of advertising crosses my desk that makes me want to punch the air in delight. This is one of those rare and beautiful spots.
Britain has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. Taboos against breastfeeding in public, along with reduced support and cuts in public health funding, have all contributed to this. For mothers returning to work, or needing to be apart from their children for extended periods, pumping is often a necessity – but one that has been largely ignored by employers and technology companies alike.
For those of us who have hidden in toilet cubicles at work using shitty handheld pumps and can still remember the noisy hum of them, which firmly belonged in a decade gone by due to their clumsy design and functionality, Elvie’s ad offers the promise that things will be better for the next generation of mothers.
Mother’s punchy, joyful campaign for the Elvie Pump, a silent wearable breast pump, is blissfully free of the pastel hues and ballerina bollocks that have typified ads for infant formula and it's cause for celebration.
Director Fiona Jane Burgess delivers a liberating and feel-good spot with four dancers who have recently had babies. The insight that women feel like cows when they are pumping, largely because technology hasn’t touched the category until very recently, brings clarity, honesty and humour to the issue.
A beautiful reminder of the power of creative thinking, empathy and collective energy to puncture inertia and break taboos. Bravo.
Brand Elvie
Client Darren Goode, chief marketing officer
Agency Mother London
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