A lot of people are going to feel the need to call in sick on Monday morning, and not because of the particularly bad flu season.
Whether it’s due to a hangover, fatigue, or just because the goddamn Patriots won the Super Bowl again, a lot of Americans are going to want the Monday after the Super Bowl off from work. You know it, I know it, Reckitt Benckiser brand Mucinex and its agency of record McCann know it. So McCann New York/McCann Humancare worked up a spot slated to run after Super Bowl LII with a wink at the “#SuperSickMonday” phenomenon. It features the brand’s animated (and pretty gross) mucus character chiding viewers for faking it before ending with the line, “When you’re really sick, take Mucinex.”
The campaign was inspired by a recent survey by Mucinex and The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated which found nearly 1 in 5 employees admitted they had previously missed work following the Big Game.
“We know that a late night watching the Big Game can make it hard to get up and go to work the next day,” Reckitt Benckiser equity lead, U.S. Health Brian Dolan said in a statement published in LBB. “As a brand that takes pride in helping fight sickness and avoid missed time at work, we decided to give a wink to this once-a-year cultural phenomenon, when people choose to take a personal day on their own terms.”
“We’ve had fun with this campaign, giving a lot of the power to consumers and influential personalities in sports and comedy to talk about what #SuperSickMonday means to them. The timing of our ad right after the game syncs up with the immediate nationwide feeling of post-game blues, latching on to that moment when you begin to rationalize calling out sick,” he added. “We think this approach will help us increase brand awareness at a time of year when lots of brands are advertising in a more traditional way. By giving people a laugh now, we hope they will turn to Mucinex when they’re actually sick.”
Credits:
Agencies McCann New York/McCann Humancare
Tom Murphy & Sean Bryan / Co-Chief Creative Officers
Nathy Aviram / Chief Production Officer
Danielle Korn / Director Broadcast Production
Nic Howell / Group Creative Director
Geoff Bentz / Group Creative Director
Adam Koehler / Associate Creative Director
Mikey Harmon / Senior Art Director
Alexis Mead / Senior Producer
Dan Gross / Music Producer
John Danbeck / Group Account Director
Claire Hogan / Account Director
Lauren Galasso / Account Supervisor
Nick Hanlin / Account Executive
Katie Hildebrandt / Assistant Account Executive
Erica Yahr / Executive Strategy Director
Zulay Tomasiello / Group Strategy Director
Elissa Aguirre / Strategy Director
Jessica Yin / Experience Strategy Director
Kimberly Kress / Director Talent Partnerships
Madeline McCarty / Business Manager
Production
Production Company: Furlined, Inc.
Directors: Speck Gordon
DP: Martin Ruhe
EP: David Thorne
Animation
Psyop
Shannon Alexander / EP
Pedro Lavin / Art Director
Scott Allen Thomas / Producer
Briana Franceschini / CG Lead
Editorial
Cabin Edit
Graham Turner / Editor
Music
CHROMA
Mix
Sonic Union/Engineer: Paul Weiss