DigitasLBi Celebrates Single Dads for Whirlpool

By Erik Oster 

Digitas LBi offers a touching, believable portrait of a single father and his son in the 60-second spot “Dad & Andy” for Whirpool.

Based on the insight that 2.6 million households in America are headed by a single father, a number that continues to increase from just 300,000 in 1960, according to Pew Research, Digitas LBi wanted to give voice to this often overlooked demographic. “Dad & Andy” doesn’t present its father figure as perfect or superhuman — “Sometimes I forget to cut the crust off the sandwich,” and “Sometimes work comes before games” he admits, later burning a batch of cookies. By showing these imperfections, though, the ad drives home that he’s trying the best he can, writing notes and reminders to his son that may seem to be taken for granted, but aren’t, and throwing a second batch of cookies in the oven. The product integration in the ad is also handled well, subtly suggesting Whirlpool helps dad navigate the sometimes overwhelming task of parenting.

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“Rather than focus on features and technology, we are depicting the reality of everyday life,” explained Morgan Carroll, executive creative director, DigitasLBi. “Cooking, cleaning, and washing clothes can often feel like thankless tasks. With ‘Dad & Andy,’ we wanted to show the significance of this everyday care, specifically amongst the growing population of single fathers.”

In addition to “Dad & Andy,” Digitas LBi also created the more product-focused “Finding Time,” which “takes the brand idea of Every day, care, and shows how the challenge of finding time for a working parent is translated into why Whirlpool developed its Frozen Bake technology for the slide-in range.”

Credits:

Chief Creative Officer: Ronald Ng
EVP, Executive Creative Director: Morgan Carroll
SVP, Group Creative Director: Mike Frease
VP, Creative Director: Jeremy Bacharach
Associate Creative Director: Chris Jansma
Senior Copywriter: Robyn Tennenbaum
Executive Producer: Greg Lederer
Senior Producer: Jennifer Passaniti
EVP, Account Management: Chris Reed
VP/Group Account Director: Andrea Kroll
Account Director: Kristine Kobe
Copywriter: Samantha Bordignon
Photographer/Designer: Arnaud Uyttenhove
Production Company: Caviar Content
Director: Arnaud Uyttenhove
Director of Photography: Chayse Irvin
Executive Producer: Kim Dellara
Line Producer: Bernard Rahill
Editing House: Beast
Editor: Angelo Valencia
Producer: Lauren Roth
Music House: Genuine
Composer: John Ferreira
Sound Design: Particle Audio
Sound Designer: Katy Mindeman
Audio Mix: Particle Audio
Mixer: Katy Mindeman

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