W+K Portland Launches First Work for Weight Watchers

By Erik Oster 

W+K Portland has launched a new campaign for Weight Watchers, its first for the brand since winning creative duties back in April.

In a new 60-second spot, W+K drops the celebrity-driven approach taken by previous agency McCann (whose latest work featured Jessica Simpson), instead going for a universal theme of “eating your feelings.” The ad, entitled “If You’re Happy…” is set to an adaption of the popular children’s song “If You’re Happy And You Know It” by Tony Babino. “If you’re happy and you know it, eat a snack,” he sings at the beginning of the spot over shots of people happily enjoying ice cream, burgers and cake. Around 15 seconds in the tune changes to “If you’re sad…” and later on to such feelings as “bored,” “lonely” and “sleepy” before finally ending with “If you’re human and you know it, eat your feelings, eat a snack” and ending with the tagline, “Help with the hard part” before finally showing the Weight Watchers logo.

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It’s an interesting tactic, tapping into the insight that people associate eating with all types of emotions rather than relying on a celebrity endorsement, which seems to be the standard for the category. W+K seems to be banking on the empathy and relatability of the message being more persuasive than association with celebrity.

According to The New York Times, the ad will “be introduced broadly on Sunday” with an emphasis on “programming apt to draw multiple members of a household” like “the midseason finale of The Walking Dead on AMC on Sunday and the season finale of The Voice on NBC on Dec. 15.” The ad will also “appear widely in cinemas,” which Lesya Lysyj, president of Weight Watchers in North America, told The New York Times “…is great because you’re sitting there with your huge thing of popcorn.”

“We’ve never actually said that weight loss is easy, but when you use celebrities and show before-and-after photos, what you’re doing is kind of implying that it is easy,” she added, explaining the move away from celebrity endorsements.

Credits:

W+K PORTLAND

Creative Directors: Michael Tabtabai / Jason Kreher

Copywriter: Brooke Barker

Art Director: Robbie Rane

Senior Agency Producer: Jennie Lindstrom

Interactive Strategy: Jen Goldberg

Strategic Planning: Rebecca Stambanis

Media/Comms Planning: Kelsey Bozanich / Lisa Christy

Account Team: Brett Corrick / Kyleen Caley / Hanna Nesper Newell / Nick Larkin

Business Affaires: Connery Obeng

Project Management: Chenney Gruber / Andrea Nelsen

Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Mark Fitzloff

Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

 

PRODUCTION

Production Company: Epoch Films

Director: Martin De Thurah

Executive Producer: Melissa Culligan

Line Producer: Michaela Johnson

Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler

 

EDITORIAL

Editorial Company: Exile

Editor: Kirk Baxter

Assistant Editor: Will Butler

Post Producer: Toby Louie

Post Executive Producer: Carol Lynn Weaver

 

TELECINE

Telecine Company: The Mill

Executive Color Producer: Dee Allen

Producer: Heath Raymond

Colorist: Fergus McCall

 

VFX

VFX Company: The Mill

VFX Executive Producer: Sue Troyan

VFX Producer: Dan Roberts

Production Coordinator: Benjamin Sposato

2D Lead Artist: John Shirley

2D Artist: Robert Murdock

Matte Painter: Rasha Shalaby

 

MUSIC

Music Company: tonefarmer

Arranger: Jared Hunter

Singer: Tony Babino

Executive Producer: Tiffany Senft

Producer: Liz Higgins

 

SOUND DESIGN

Sound Design Company: Stimmung

Sound Designer: Gus Koven

Sound Design Assistant: William Flynn

Executive Producer: Ceinwyn Clark

 

MIX

Mix Company: Lime

Mixer: Rohan Young

Assistant Mixer: Jeff Malen

Producer: Susie Boyajan

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