Publix / Valentine’s Day

One of the qualities that has always made the Publix campaigns stand out is the way in which we are allowed to tell human stories that can be endearing, show product, and leave the viewer with a nice warm feeling – without any of these things becoming gratuitous. 

In this case we have a chance to not only do this again, but to do it with a story that has the potential to be the standard by which past and future spots are measured.

The Characters

As discussed, this involves taking a hard look at what is already a well-written story and searching for the detail that might make what is good – great. The thing that jumped out at me was the boy’s age. If we cast a seven or eight year old (which by no means is out of the question) we are basically introducing a character who is by nature, mother’s little boy. If on the other hand we were to push the age a little – to say 13 – what we have is a spot in which we get a completely different dynamic from the same story. Why? Because of the nature of a 13 year old boy and his relationship with his mom.

Now we have a kid who is at an age in which he’s conscious of girls – so the element that he would be making this for a girl his own age becomes more believable – resulting in a much stronger misdirect. In addition to that we have a kid who is also more conscious of his appearance, more insecure, awkward – and let’s face it, at the age that he doesn’t even want to be seen with his mom. He’s separating. He’s just starting to establish his independence, and mom has a reason to see her little boy slipping away because he’s not her little boy anymore – and yet he is.

These are all the built-in emotions that then become an integral part of the story – and allow all the people with kids of that age or older to empathize and better connect. 

If we go this direction we should cast a kid who has interesting looks – maybe a bit of an edge. In other words we don’t want a kid who looks as if he’s still momma’s little boy. We want a kid who has started to find himself a little.

Now the story starts to expand. It allows mom to be even more curious about who this cake is for, and the kid to be even more standoffish about telling her. Think about it. A kid of 7 or 8 – even if bashful, might be very willing to tell mom the name of the girl. A kid of thirteen – forget it. He’d never cop to it, and would definitely never admit to his mom’s face that he wanted to make it for her.

This also allows us a great way to showcase the food without it becoming too cute. They could be making the cake from scratch – which is very impressive to mom. This girl must be pretty special – which is also a little more threatening to her as well. She would naturally pry a little. He would also have fun in giving her the silent treatment. As a result, the story expands, the dynamic between the two becomes more real and more nuanced, and the payoff will be even more surprising and heart warming.

The Look and Feel

As far as the photography is concerned, what I’m suggesting is that we take a departure from the overly beautiful “Housewarming” look, separate from it, and move forward to create a look that is more contemporary and real. That’s not to say that the food won’t look appetizing and delicious. We will accomplish that while integrating it into the story – but in a way that doesn’t over-glamorize the scenes with light that makes everything look too perfect and too precious. Part of this process we will involve designing the light around creating a more balanced look that blends with the scene as opposed to calling attention to itself. 

Within this realistic scene we will then focus on the process of these two making this cake so that we can feature the ingredients. We see the flour being sifted, the eggs dropped into the flour, the milk, the butter, the chocolate swirling into the batter, the fresh strawberries being cut. Integrated into these moments we see the packages and labels in ways that feel very organic to the scene. We even have moments for Mom to comment on. Walnuts… You’re putting walnuts in…? The kid responds, You gotta have the walnuts…

Capturing all the little detail shots that can help add touches of humanity we see Mom’s reactions, the look in her eyes, the hands dealing with the food, a photo of the kid at a younger age on the fridge…

In support of the reality we will also capture all the natural sounds that can add that texture of real life. We hear the clatter of utensils, some music in the background that the kid is listening to – all subtle little details that add depth and texture to the scene while furthering the reality.

In other words, what we are after is a total look that will take this campaign forward. Once we arrive at that look we will find the right cinematographer who can deliver it 

The ending

Having gone through the process of the cake being made we then bring the viewer to the conclusion of the story where we have a great opportunity to push the misdirect even further. 

We see our mom and kid in the car pulling up outside the school. Our kid is holding the cake on his lap so that it doesn’t get ruined on the drive. As usual the hectic drill of kids trying to get all their stuff together and get out of the cars is in full swing. Very naturally, when Mom pulls to a stop, the kid will hand the cake to her so that she can hold it while he gets his gets his backpack and gets out of the car. 

Now, she has it. He’s managed to give it to her without her suspecting anything’s up at all. In the midst of this we can pepper the scene with cutaway shots of some ambient action to get a feel for the confusion of drop-off – maybe even getting a glimpse a girl through a crowd of kids who is looking toward our kid. Mom having her radar on might pick up on this – but it’s all very subtle and underplayed. 

Before she knows it, our kid is walking away, and suddenly it registers with Mom. Hey – the cake. You’re forgetting the cake. It’s then that our kid turns, looks at his mom, and in that sort of cool and casual way just says, That’s for you, Mom. Happy Valentine’s Day.

As he runs off we cut to Mom’s reaction. We see the mixed emotions on her face. She’s touched, proud, incredulous, a little bowled over – and all the while she is watching her baby boy literally and metaphorically walk into manhood.
The result will be an endearing story that feels real, and takes the viewer completely by surprise so that we can have the emotion at the end without it feeling too contrived, or too precious.