Mother Will Sell Provocative Items to Highlight Social Causes

Independent creative agency Mother is launching its latest venture, Mother Goods. The new design and development company creates and sells products that are meant to change how people think about and behave around specific issues in the world, and the products range from absurd accessories to advocacy apparel. The new company is an extension of the agency’s mission, “Make Our Children Proud,” which guides Mother’s daily decisions. With Mother Goods, the agency is developing product ideas that mirror what’s happening in social and popular culture, with a bent toward deserving causes and social issues, from gun control to LGBTQ+ and women's rights, social media addiction and many more. An invention of creative promiscuity “Mother has always been pretty promiscuous about the origin and application of our creativity so it’s hard to trace [this idea] back to a specific point. A perfect storm of three things just happened to come together,” Charlie McKittrick, CSO at Mother, told Adweek. He said that founder partner Paul Malmstrom had been playing around with ideas, trying to make them into products rather than ads and solving real-world problems rather than briefs, which came about the same time as the Make Our Children Proud platform was being developed. “Then, we have this rebellious entrepreneurial spirit that inspired us want to make real products and sell them on a real shoppable platform and—more often than not—get real people to pay real money for them,” said McKittrick. “Once we had Mother Goods as a name and organizing principle, the ideas and partnerships and material sourcing and production just took off,” Malmstrom told Adweek. The products Not all of the products are available for purchase on the Mother Goods website. Some are intellectual property developed by the company, which can be bought or rented, and Mother Goods currently has a long list of IP in development and will continue to develop manufacturing and retail partnership expertise. Profits from Mother Goods will be donated to leading advocacy organizations tied to the social issues the products address. Some of the first goods added to the site are meant to provoke. Kickback Lounge Wear is a line of bullet-resistant Kevlar leisurewear designed to protect wearers from guns in the comfort of their homes (not available for retail purchase). The Cûf is a rose gold phone case that attaches to the wrist like a handcuff, meant to address our technology obsession in the form of a super luxurious phone case. The Goop Luxury Diapér, done with Goop and Baby2Baby, raises awareness of national diaper poverty and lobbies for a ban on America’s diaper “luxury” tax (not for sale). The Blood is Blood line of "gay blood-ink" products is made to challenge anti-LGBTQ+ systems. Another pro-LGBTQ+ product is a set of Russian nesting dolls made to resemble queer icons. Another unique product is the Public Boob, a giant breast installation designed to be rented, in support of the "#FreetheFeed" campaign, championing the right to breastfeed in public. “The idea of ‘renting’ our products is something we’re just announcing. Out of the gate, we want to establish the different ways you can engage with our output,” said Malmstrom. Malmstrom added the new company has an ambition to address other topics, “stemming both from within Mother, and in collaborative ways, from outside of Mother.” Other products coming soon are Lullabombs, a children’s wartime noise machine, and more in the Gay Blood Collection. "We've never been afraid to express our point of view to the world and now we've dedicated a whole shop to it. We want to create debate, provoke positive change and make some really cool stuff," said Susan Hosking, executive creative director, international at Mother Family. Mother Goods plans to promote these products through various avenues. The marketing plan is largely product driven, rather than through a portfolio or company level. Volume products will move through the ecommerce site, while IP products will be promoted through any philanthropic partners Mother Goods is collaborating with, like around specific events, initiatives and objectives, as well as the audiences the products are focused upon. The first big new product drop will coincide with Fashion Week and will be a PR/earned media play through the efforts and audiences of Mother Goods' philanthropic partner, which is centered around LBGTQ+ issues, as well as the fans of the influencers and fashion designers involved. Mother Goods has another product launch coming at Christmas that will be largely coordinated with a European activist group collaborating on the product and issue of children and war. Other efforts may go through more traditional and targeted media with the agency's Media by Mother arm. Mother Goods admits it is still in early stages with its products and plans to grow with complexity as it gets more sophisticated and utilizes more robust technology. McKittrick said that deciding on the quantities of the products is fascinating to the company. “Depending on the cost and complexity of manufacturing the product, the partners we have to collaborate with and the potential for sales and conversation and impact, we then either make as many as we can or just a few,” he said, adding that he wants people to realize that the products and the powerful ideas behind them can be impactful in ways that other forms of activism can’t. “We believe creativity has the power to change the world. Mother Goods is a place where we create goods that do good—ideas-turned-products that can make real tangible change to big world issues," Katie Mackay-Sinclair, partner, Mother London, added in a statement. Quip Wants to Sell More Than Just Toothbrushes, so It Hired Mother LA to Build Its Brand

Brand Purpose

Mother Is Creating Provocative Products Designed to Go Viral and Draw Attention to Social Causes

It's selling bulletproof loungewear, a handcuff phone case and more

An invention of creative promiscuity

Kyle O’Brien

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Kyle O’Brien