Huggies Scores with Super Bowl Ad

Welcome to the World, Baby

Huggies

5.4

Done well, a diaper ad almost always puts a smile on people’s faces. But they aren’t always done well – sometimes there’s too much detail on new ranges, or tedious pseudo-science about layers. Other times the storyline simply doesn’t work – stressed new mothers really don’t need reminding of the struggle!

Huggies’ 5-Star Super Bowl ad – the highest-rated at this year’s big game – doesn’t break new ground. But it doesn’t make any of those mistakes, either. It sticks to what diaper ads do best – smiling, chuckling, wriggling babies, and plenty of ’em. After a year of upheaval this turned out to be exactly the lift America was looking for.

There’s a charming conceit – the narrator welcoming babies to the world – but it’s never applied so heavily that it gets in the way of the visuals. The brand is prominent but not overwhelming. And the babies are, of course, extremely cute.

It’s not the kind of ad that wins awards, but it is the kind of ad that wins events. And it holds a lesson for advertisers in big FMCG categories: the basic category codes you work with, like cute babies in diaper ads, got that way for a reason. They work. Executed with heart and panache, they will deliver effectiveness again and again – even on the biggest stage.