Dove Men+Care looks for the positive during the pandemic in campaign about dads caring for kids

Brand taps Uninterrupted and Edelman to show fathers things to do with their children as quarantine drags on

Published On
May 05, 2020

Editor's Pick

Since its inception a decade ago, Dove Men+Care has been built with ads about relationships between dads and kids. So the Unilever brand is launching a campaign depicting real dads’ shelter-in-place lives, using footage harvested from social media, adding original hand-washing videos featuring celebrity dads with their kids, topped off with more how-to videos meant to help dads cope with quarantine.

A “Dad On” video from Ogilvy Toronto gets around current production restraints with user-generated video and photos. Rather than somber piano solos and sad scenes common in other pandemic ads, including Dove’s own “Courage Is Beautiful” last month, “Dad Do” shows dads actually having fun.  

The brand pairs that with a series of videos from Edelman showing dads how to give a haircut, help an autistic child make a change in routine, or help any kid overcome fear, work out at home or be creative.

Dove Men+Care also is working for the first time with Uninterrupted, the creative shop (it prefers the term “athlete empowerment brand” to “agency”) founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, to launch a series of hand- washing tutorial videos. The first is an animated musical featuring DJ Khaled and his son, to be followed by other videos to Khaled’s music featuring Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, James’ Lakers teammate JaVale McGee, Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Chris Harris Jr. and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson.

Carlos Gil, global brand VP of Dove Men+Care, knows the drill well by now, having sheltered in place with his own three kids in Connecticut these recent weeks.

At one point, when the search for social videos was turning up too little, Gil says, “We were considering me doing it with my kids as an element.”

Though that wasn’t ultimately unnecessary, it might have involved showing Gil manage the quarantine with family workouts and nightly meditation before dinner around 6 p.m.

“We wanted to bring an uplifting, positive message,” he says. That was partly to stand out from the pack, since he says the team was aware of the rapidly developing pushback other pandemic ads were engendering.

“This is a great opportunity for us as a brand to help men navigate this situation and make the most of it,” Gil says. “The more men experience the transformational effect care has in their lives, the better gender equality will be, the better they will be, the better society will be.”

Credits

Date
May 05, 2020
Client :
Dove Men+Care
Agency :
Ogilvy-Toronto
Global Vice President Dove Men+Care :
Carlos Javier Gil
Senior Global Brand Manager Dove Men+Care :
Leslie Golts
U.S. Brand Manager Dove Men+Care :
Jordan Lewis
Chief Creative Officer :
Brian Murray
Group Creative Director :
Brian Allen
Group Creative Director :
Noah Feferman
Art Director :
Brian Allen
Art Director :
Samiir Mussa
Copywriter :
Noah Feferman
Copywriter :
David Weaver
Producer :
Marie-Pierre Toure
Chief Strategy Officer :
Tom Kenny
Planner :
Mike Wiles
Worldwide Managing Director :
Aviva Groll
Account Director :
Beth Blatch
Account Executive :
Kemal Sehoglu
Editorial House :
Outsider Editorial
Editor :
Chris Murphy
Executive Producer :
Kristina Anzlinger
Assistant :
Cam Anderson
Post Production House :
Alter Ego Post
Colorist :
Wade Odlum
VFX Artist :
David Whiteson
Senior Producer :
Jane Garrah
Audio House :
Pirate Toronto
Audio Creative Director :
Chris Tait
Executive Producer :
Maggie Blouin Pearl
Global Client Relationship Manager Unilever :
Executive Strategy Director :
Melle Hock
Group Strategy Director :
Jeremy Busch
Group Strategy Director :
Jamie Hill
Brand Planner :
Lauren Rosas
Executive Creative Director :
Megan Skelly
Creative Director :
Shiran Teitelbaum
Associate Creative Director :
Constance Leonard
Senior Copywriter :
Daniela Marino
Senior Art Director :
Cassandra Shuber
Senior Account Supervisor :
Livia Dayan
Community Manager :
Sydney Fleisher
VP of Analytics and Insights :
Christina Oswald
Analytics Manager :
Kelsey Mcgrail
Executive Producer :
Ari Pomerantz
Producer :
Gina LoPinto
Program Director :
Amanda Maniscalco
Vice President :
Tony Nikolla
Senior Account Supervisor :
Jessica Ostrau
Senior Account Supervisor :
Caroline Zalla
Account Supervisor :
Matthew Murray
Senior Account Executive :
Claudette Sariya
Account Executive :
Brian Edsall
Assistant Account Executive :
Emma Shavrick
Assistant Account Executive :
Danielle Villaluna

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