It’s that time of year again when we all gather in the living room and watch the Super Bowl. Some watch the actual game, some are there for the halftime show, and others like me live for the ads. Some of the most memorable ads are a little bizarre and a whole lot funny like Mountain Dew’s puppy monkey baby but this year the ad that got my attention was infused with powerful visuals that told an important story.
84 Lumber created a minute and thirty-one second ad that told the story of a woman and her daughter traveling through Mexico. The intriguing video drives viewers back to their website where they can see the full commercial. This ad was deemed too controversial for television which is why they teased the first minute and a half.
The rest of the ad reveals the journey a mother and daughter take to get to America. They face many challenges and weather conditions as they head toward the border. Meanwhile, a construction crew builds something not shown in the shot. The family’s journey is brought to a halt when they reach a wall presumingly the wall that President Donald Trump has vowed to build. The mother is distraught until she discovers a door created by lumber. The video ends with a simple message, “The will to succeed is always welcomed here.”
This beautiful story drove so much traffic to 84 Lumber’s website that it crashed almost immediately. The company combated this problem by releasing it on YouTube.
This ad did so many things right.
- It captured people’s attention
- It told a raw story through visuals
- It drove people to their website
- It pulled at the heart strings
- The company took a clear stance in a creative way
PR professionals should take notes on how to successfully draw people in using multimedia.
By Alexis Smith, Agency Director
