Hershey’s has been a fickle client as of late, adding several disparate agencies (Anomaly, Barkley and Argonaut) to its roster last year after a creative review which sparked rumors that its relationship with Arnold Worldwide might soon be changing.
It’s true that Arnold went a while without producing any big campaigns for Hershey’s and that its global managing director on the business Michael Lanzi departed to become chief client officer at New York’s sparks & honey. But Arnold remains the chocolate giant’s AOR. Its New York office swiped two ECDs from Translation last October to work on the account, and this long-form spot appears to be the product of that renewed focus on the Hershey’s business.
“My Dad” will feel very familiar to any Executive Parents who struggle with work/life balance as well as kids whose mom and/or dad wear white collars to the virtual office.
Interesting musical selection, and the payoff was well-earned. Quite a few agency folks have been in those Skype-worthy meetings.
This spot would seem to mark the launch of a new worldwide rebranding campaign for Hershey’s, which aims to reassert its place in the global marketplace as threats emerge in China, Brazil and Mexico and stock prices bounce up and down.
Both client and agency have declined to elaborate on this campaign for the moment, but it’s impressive work from the Arnold New York (and possibly Boston?) team.
In other Hershey’s news, we hear that the client has ended its relationship with Argonaut after less than a year and that a very small number of staffers (approximately four) left the San Francisco agency along with that business.