BBDO New York launched a new online spot for Lowe’s as part of its “Make Your Home Happy” campaign, which launched last month, entitled “House Love.”
The spot tells a (treacly) love story between neighbors and their respective homes. They meet when still young, gradually moving from hand-holding to an eventual proposal and marriage. In the alternate reality of the spot, the houses themselves also seem to fall for each other, with subtle winks, via flickering lights and a smile by route of hammock communicating the affection the two houses have for each other. If you can swallow that premise, the ad has a certain charm, with the couple eventually fixing up the house that used to belong to the girl and their own son getting a crush on his new neighbor.
That the brand isn’t really involved until this late part in the ad, and only via allusion, might make viewers who don’t stick around until the end of the lengthy (three minute-long) ad unaware what they’re even watching an ad for. You could also make the argument that the ad never sells the brand itself, either, since it doesn’t show anything specific to Lowe’s. It unquestionably demonstrates the “Make Your Home Happy” message, then, but fails at showing how it’s Lowe’s that accomplishes that.
BBDO senior creative director Molly Adler told Adweek that the creative inspiration for the campaign came from the question, “What makes a house a home?,” which may be one you’ve heard before.
“Where we landed was that a house was a structure, but a home was everything else,” she says. “It’s family and friends and memories. It’s all the ups and downs and in-betweens that make us who we are. People put a lot into their homes. And when they do, their homes almost become an extension of them. When someone loves a home, it comes to life.”
“As the kids fall in love, the houses too fall in love and experience emotions,” added BBDO executive producer Ashley Henderson. “It was fun to brainstorm and come up with ways to make these houses more human, and it was important that both the human and house storylines came across.”
Credits:
Client: Lowe’s Home Improvement
Title: “House Love”
Agency: BBDO New York
Worldwide Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Tim Bayne
Senior Creative Director: Mike Sweeney
Senior Creative Director: Molly Adler
Creative Director: Amy Nicholson
Creative Director: Mandy Hoveyda
Group Planning Director: Emily Viola
Executive Producer: Ashley Henderson
Senior Director: Jim Reath
Account Director: Tyler Harris
Account Executive: Marlee Caine
Production Company: Corner Shop
Director: Peter Thwaites
Director of Photography: Greig Fraser
Executive Producer: Anna Hashmi
Producer: Suzie Greene Tedesco
Editorial: Work Editorial
Editor: Bill Smedley
Executive Producer: Erica Thompson
Post House EFX: The Mill
Executive Creative Director: Angus Kneale
Lead Compositor/ VFX Supervisor: Antoine Douadi
Compositors: Jamie Scott, Heather Kennedy, Mina Mir, Molly Intersimone
CG: Nick Couret Chailloux, Cedric Menard
Senior Executive Post Producer: Sean Costelloe
Senior Post Producer: Rachael Trillo
Post Producer: Hayley Wallach
Colorist: Adam Scott (Mill LA)
Music: Barking Owl
Executive Producer: Kelly Bayett