The hero? An ordinary gum wrapper.
How many times have you heard that storyline before? Not many, I’d guess.
I’m a sucker for a good story. Who isn’t, really? But then add a touching song to that story, and play it out in living color through video, and you’ve got the best case scenario for sparking emotion from their audience. And Wrigley’s Extra gum ad portraying Sara and Juan’s budding romance is the perfect example of nailing this trifecta right on the head.
The Story
The actors in this story were amazing. They were real, genuine people, who connected with the audience on so many levels. American Idol singer Haley Reinhart’s sultry voice sings Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, with a beautifully filmed sequence of events as the couple’s love story evolves. Again, they nailed it.
But, back to my my initial point. The brilliance of this piece of content and the star of the show was a lowly gum wrapper.
Whereas just about every gum ad since the beginning of time uses the ‘first kiss’ or at least the ‘our-faces-are-really-close-good-thing-we-have-gum’ scenarios, Wrigley’s takes a chance on letting this item, which is typically just thrown away, shine.
They’ve dared the audience to, yes, still grab a stick of Extra right before your first kiss, but to also think about chewing gum during just about any other life moment as well:
- first interactions
- a picnic in the park
- arguments
- airport departures
- even long distance communication (basically the opposite of the gum ad status-quo)
The Proposal
I absolutely loved the simple gum wrapper drawings that chronicle the couple’s relationship, all framed and leading to the culmination in Juan’s proposal down on one knee.
Chicago-based advertising agency Energy BBDO produced the video that has amassed 80 million plus views on Facebook. That certainly qualifies it as effective content marketing! And while we might not all become avid gum wrapper artists, we as marketers should always be thinking of how we can better tell a story.
The Conclusion
So whether it’s through video, drawing on emotion, or by focusing on a completely different aspect of your product you’ve never thought of before, these are the kinds of stories we should be telling in our content marketing. They’re what create memorable experiences for your audience, who is probably chewing a stick of Wrigley’s as we speak.
Enjoy the full video below!