Pain Results in Disastrous Fate for Pink Stuffed Bear in space150’s New Spot for ACE

By Erik Oster 

Oh no, Mr. Tickles!

Digital agency space150 launched a campaign for 3M’s ACE brand (you’re probably familiar with the bandages), centered around a spot featuring a stuffed pink bear floating downstream, soggy and cold instead of enjoying a trip with his family. You see, dad was too distracted by pain to notice when Mr. Tickles fell out of his daughter’s backpack. The spot delivers the story from the perspective of the stuffed bear, who apparently refers to himself in the first person.

The spot concludes with Mr. Tickles opining his lack of verbal communication skills, which would have allowed him to tell dad about ACE’s wrist brace. It’s perhaps a bit of a long walk (or float down the river, as it were) to get to the “Don’t Be Distracted by Wrist Pain” tagline at the end of the ad, but there is a connection to the product’s purported benefits. According to a release, it’s based on the insight that “chronic pain keeps you from being in the moment – and that can have some consequences.”

In addition to the full-length spot above, running on digital and social channels, a 30-second version of the ad will run on broadcast. And this won’t be the last we see of Mr. Tickles, who will reportedly appear in future creative, as well as in further digital and social content for the campaign and in-store marketing. The campaign aims to reintroduce the ACE brand to consumers as it approaches its 100th anniversary, showcasing products beyond the brand’s well-known bandages.

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3M has made some changes to its advertising recently, selecting Veneables, Bell & Partners as its lead creative agency (and ending a 21-year relationship with Grey) in March, following a review launched in November. Digital strategy and creative duties for the ACE brand, however, reside with space150.

The agency has undergone some recent changes itself, with the promotion of Dutch Thalhuber to the role of president the most recent.  Thalhuber’s promotion followed the arrivals of Ulli Appelbaum as executive vice president, strategy and Stan Fiorito as executive vice president, client and brand development last summer and Char Roseblade as senior vice president, account services in October. 

Credits:
Client: 3M ACE Brand
Agency: space150
Brock Davis, Chief Creative Officer
Brian Ritchie, Executive Creative Director
Alex Dubrovsky, Group Creative Director
Shealah Cocherell, Art Director
Tanner Uselmann, Copywriter
Henni Iwarsson, Producer
Jenna Martin, Account Director

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