SO&U ignites discussion on bonding, discipline with 2018 Mother’s Day Ad
Today, Mother’s Day, usually celebrated internationally in March or May in some countries is marked in honour of motherhood and the influence of mothers in the society. This celebration and its essence resonate deeply in Africa where there is profound bond and deep affection between mother and child.
Over the years, the Mother’s Day celebration has become what some families, especially mothers with well brought- up and grown- up children look up for. Some of these children buy expensive gifts and send money to their mothers to honour them.
Brands also celebrate women by taking up spaces in the traditional and online media to send out goodwill messages to mothers whose crucial roles in the family are seen as critical to society’s orderliness.
This year, however, leading advertising agency, SO&U with a deeper thinking, keyed into the Mother’s Day celebration in a unique way. The agency, led by Udeme Ufot, took global audience, especially Africans and beyond on a memorable lane by creating campaign messages that rekindled some of the characteristics of bonds between mothers and children.
The campaigns reawakened memories in a fun way, re-counting when growing up often meant clambering over neighbourhood walls, ducking through backyards and, every now and then, engaging mum in a cat and mouse game that mum often won.
Each Advert in the campaign humorously profiled the common tools used during these corrective episodes between mother and child in a way that resonated across Nigeria and beyond.
One of the campaigns played up the memory of a ‘knock’ usually received by a child from the mother when he misbehaves. Other campaigns by SO&U reminded audience how the mother uses Slippers, sticks and brooms to tap the child. In the Western World, these disciplinary tools and actions would amount to child abuse, but in Africa they were successful tools for correction which never diminished the bond between child and mother. The society was better for it.
The SO&U’s Mother’s Day campaign was insightful, engaging and loaded with tons of nostalgia-inducing wittiness. The response was overwhelmingly positive with over two million impressions on twitter and shares across local and international social media platforms.
Most respondents reminisced over their own experiences while many contributed suggestions toward extending the campaign. The campaign assisted to give the 2018 Mothers’ Day an excitement that will linger for a long time.
Another significant underlying message from the Advert is that SO& U is deploying it to call back the society from moral decadence and indiscipline which has reached intolerable level. Instead of pointing accusing fingers and playing the blame game of who is responsible for low moral values, SO&U is reminding everyone, especially the youth of the discipline through knocks, sticks, slippers and brooms they received and therefore they should adhere to such instructions.
This is not the first time SO&U, a well- known name in Nigerian advertising circle is creating some interesting campaigns. The agency is also behind some of Nigeria’s most celebrated campaigns over the years including Udeme my friend Ad for Guinness. Currently, its portfolio of clients includes Glo, Access Bank, Unilever, Diageo and Indomie Noodles.
A worthy celebration
As fathers, the parental role of mothers in a family is really daunting. For 36 weeks, a mother carries the pregnancy with sometimes emotions, pain and discomfort. Delivery is with divine intervention. Whether exaggerated or not, Unicef last year said every single day, Nigeria loses about 145 women of childbearing age. It is therefore worth celebrating those women that survive this process.
From breast milk to other needs, to see the child grow well and develop rightly, the mother’s maximum attention is required. By their nature, the mothers naturally show extreme love for their children, provide food, wash clothes and show unconditional affection to the family. Therefore, Mother’s Day is a day to reciprocate the affection to the mother who largely weans the child. Though experts say weaning doesn’t necessarily signal the end of the intimate bond created through nursing. It just means nourishing and nurturing him in different ways.
The mothers are really moulders of society from the initial development and discipline of the child.
Origin of Mother’s Day
Historically, the celebration started mid-19th century, led by a woman activist, Ann Jarvis to create women peace group against war. Later, her daughter Anna Jarvis continued her mother’s peace course. Following this, other activists led “Mother’s Day for Peace” anti-war observance on June 2, 1872.
Wikipedia says the modern celebration of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in May 10, 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a service in honour of her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in West Virginia. “The next year the day was reported to be widely celebrated in New York” and it took off from there”
Daniel Obi