Let me get this out of the way, right off the bat. I hate that as an advertising professional I could see them purposely pushing every possible holiday emotional button and yet I still got a little misty-eyed. But hey, if you can do that to someone who knows what's going on, you must be doing it right. And Tylenol's new holiday spot does everything right. It's beautifully shot, the music does a great job of moving the emotional journey without any words (except those that appear on the screen). They pack a whole lot into one very moving holiday spot. I'm not sure what it has to do with Tylenol – and maybe that 's the point, it's just a Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate – they're all in there) card to you from them.
If you want to be cynical, you could say they opened up the diversity and cute factor catalogs and simply chose one of everything. You have every race, every religion, old people in hospitals, new babies performing at the snap of a finger, a little boy getting his military day as a surprise gift, little girl finding out she's going to be a big sister, two wedding proposals (one gay and one inter-racial), toddlers kissing skype screens of loved ones far away, all sorts of inter-mixed and non-traditional families. Christmas lights in the snow, Christmas lights on a tent overlooking the ocean. I think they literally have every possible holiday emotional moment except maybe kittens and puppies. But they do it so darn well – and all in 60 seconds.
I think it despite the cliche's or maybe because of them, this holiday spot works really well. I find it very endearing and have watched it over and over – with it still tugging at my heart a bit each time. So, well done, Tylenol. And unlike many of these spots that you like and never remember what brand did it, I think I will remember this was a Tylenol spot. That could be because they managed to carve out a special place in my heart or it could just be because I wrote this blog post. Whatever. Enjoy!
Tylenol – #HowWeFamily
As an aside, don't you just have to admire the fact that so many big brand big ad campaigns have a hashtag for their name? Not sure if that's genius or annoying. But it will certainly make sure someone on their social team knows I wrote a blog about it.
Mike McClure – in good spirits for the holidays
