Sparkling Ice will air Oscars ad calling out Greta Gerwig snub

‘Anything but Subtle’ spot by agency RTO+P marks the brand’s first appearance in broadcast

Published On
Mar 08, 2024
Sparkling Ice product shot and the line "We'd like to raise a bottle to all the Greta directors"

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The 96th Academy Awards are Sunday, and brands and advertisers have flocked to launch campaigns thanks to a renewed interest in awards shows.

But the Oscars are not without their share of criticism, as shown in Sparkling Ice’s national spot slated to air right after the award for Best Director is announced. 

Created by creative agency Red Tettemer O’Connell and Partners, the spot, titled “Anything but Subtle,” plays into the recent criticism surrounding the award nominees, specifically the omission of Greta Gerwig for Best Director for her record-breaking blockbuster “Barbie.” MRM was the media agency.

 

The simple 15-second ad aligns a pink bottle of Sparkling Ice zero sugar on a pink background to the left of the screen, as text appears that says, “We’d like to raise a bottle to all the Greta directors.”

The word “Greta” is then highlighted and deleted, only to be replaced by the word “great” and a typeface wink.

The spot is Sparkling Ice’s first broadcast ad and first time on an award show. The tagline “Anything but Subtle” closes out the film as a nod to a not-so-subtle comment of the cultural debate.

The campaign reflects the thoughts of many fans and actors who were disappointed when Gerwig was omitted from the category along with “Barbie” star Margot Robbie for Best Actress, including co-star Ryan Gosling, who issued a statement after the nominees were announced in January.

Gosling, who played Ken in the film and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film, took to Instagram to say that “no recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without [Gerwig and Robbie’s] talent, grit and genius.” 

“There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie,” he wrote.

The snub was met with shock from fans online as well, who touted "Barbie" as the movie of the summer after a $100 million marketing blitz—which included more than 160 brand partnerships from Ford to Bumble to Airbnb and more—helped it break box office records. 

"Barbie" became highest-grossing film of 2023 in September, raking in $1.44 billion in revenue worldwide. Mattel’s toy sales grew as a result, reporting third quarter 2023 revenue of $1.9 billion, a 9% year-over-year rise that surpassed analyst expectations, and sales up by 16% over the year-earlier period in the quarter. 

Credits

Date
Mar 08, 2024
Client :
Sparkling Ice
Agency :
Red Tettemer O'Connell & Partners
Media Agency :
MRM Partners

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Project Type