Why Angel Soft wants you to miss its first Super Bowl ad

Angel Soft waited nearly six decades to run its first Super Bowl commercial, but when it does so on Feb. 9, it will invite you to miss it. The brand is using its 30-second halftime spot to encourage viewers to take a bathroom break. A 15-second teaser for Angel Soft, owned by Koch’s Georgia-Pacific, describes the upcoming spot as a “potty-tunity,” which the brand’s animated Angel character says means “you don’t have to choose between missing the action or the ad.” The spot from WPP’s Grey is set to run in the first slot following the second quarter during the Fox broadcast. To help kick off the campaign, Angel Soft did an integration during Sunday’s NFC Championship game on Fox involving on-air personalities Julian Edelman and Charissa Thompson in which Thompson was seen looking for Edelman while he rushed back from a bathroom break and ultimately missed the kickoff. A survey commissioned by the brand found that 62% of people say they hold off going to the bathroom when they need to so they don’t miss something, and 61% rush themselves to make sure they don’t miss important moments. This is the first time a toilet paper brand has had a Super Bowl spot since 2004 when Charmin became Procter & Gamble Co.’s first brand to advertise in the game. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here To be sure, while many Super Bowl spots are for categories bought by only a fraction of the audience, toilet paper makes some sense for such a mass-market buy, given that almost everyone uses it. But a Super Bowl outlay fits more easily into a P&G Charmin-size budget than a Georgia-Pacific Angel Soft outlay. Charmin spent $63 million on TV over the 52 weeks ended Jan. 26, according to iSpot.tv. Angel Soft spent only $11.5 million the past year and $14 million the year before, per iSpot estimates. With Super Bowl spots going for $7 million, it will cost the brand half or more of what it normally spends in a year on TV. “It’s a sizeable investment,” said Rafael Garcia, VP and general manager of Angel Soft. But he said the commercial speaks to a real consumer need of not wanting to miss anything for bathroom breaks. “We felt it was the right time,” Garcia said. “It fits with our brand essence, our brand promise,” which is about helping people not have to make tradeoffs, such as between softness and strength. “We wanted to do something different for Angel Soft to capitalize on the momentum that we have as a brand,” he said. “When this idea came through, there were six or eight of us around the room, and we were discussing the idea, kind of made eye contact, and you saw, without talking, folks were slowly nodding their heads, and that’s where you have some of this magic come together.” The consumer insight and the connection to what Angel Soft stands for, combined with “obviously the investment behind it to make it work,” makes him confident “it will pay good dividends.” Loading…

Why Angel Soft wants you to miss its first Super Bowl ad

Featured Stories