Tag: TV commercial

McDonald’s: Sleeping Baby

Exhausted new fathers count on McDonald’s and they will appreciate this nicely crafted McDonald’s spot by TBWA\Chiat\Day.

Why this spot lands

The premise is instantly recognizable, and the execution stays disciplined. It leans on a real-life tension. Keep the baby asleep. Get what you need. Do not make a sound. That restraint is exactly what makes the humor feel earned instead of forced.

  • Relatable truth first. The situation does the storytelling heavy lifting.
  • Craft over noise. The pacing and detail make the moment feel real.
  • Brand as helpful, not loud. McDonald’s shows up as the dependable solution in a small life moment.

What to take from it

If you can anchor the story in a lived-in human moment, you do not need to over-explain the product role. The viewer connects the dots, and the brand benefit feels natural rather than “sold”.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the “McDonald’s: Sleeping Baby” spot?

It is a McDonald’s commercial by TBWA\Chiat\Day built around the relatable reality of exhausted new fathers and the tension of not waking a sleeping baby.

Why is it effective advertising?

It starts from a universal situation and keeps the execution restrained, so the humor feels authentic and the brand role feels earned.

What is the transferable lesson?

Find one human truth your audience instantly recognizes, then let craft and timing deliver the payoff instead of relying on heavy messaging.

How does the brand show up without being intrusive?

By acting as the reliable enabler of a small win in the viewer’s day, rather than forcing a big claim or a loud punchline.

Norms Restaurants: Social Media Above-the-Line

A TV spot that treats social as the main stage

Here is a new TV spot promoting the NORMS Restaurants Facebook page. It does something different. The commercial is grounded in social media rather than simply being an add-on.

How it works: the channel is the creative, not the CTA

The mechanism is straightforward. Instead of telling you to “go to Facebook”, the spot behaves like social. It borrows the language, pacing, and cultural cues of the feed, then uses TV as the amplifier.

In US regional restaurant brands, social channels can function as a 24/7 extension of the dining room: service, deals, personality, and community in real time.

Why it lands: the message and the operating model match

Just as social media never sleeps, NORMS Restaurants also never closes. They are open 24 hours a day. That alignment matters. The spot is not trying to look modern. It is connecting a true operational differentiator to a behaviour that is always on.

The intent: make “follow us” feel like utility

The point is not only awareness. It is habit formation. If the brand is always open, then the social presence can be positioned as always available too, with updates that feel useful, timely, and worth checking.

Early results the brand shared at the time

This family owned business shared the following success within 10 days of the TV commercials:

  • Gained 1,000 fans on Facebook
  • Gained 150 followers on Twitter

What to steal if you want social to be “above the line”

  • Make the channel the idea. If you lead with social, the creative has to feel native to how social behaves.
  • Anchor the message in something operationally true. “Always on” lands when the business actually is.
  • Give people a reason to follow, not just a reason to notice. Utility beats slogans for repeat behaviour.
  • Measure fast, then iterate. If the goal is followers and engagement, build feedback loops early.

A few fast answers before you act

What is different about this NORMS TV spot?

It is built around social media as the core creative idea, not as a last-second add-on call-to-action.

What is the main mechanism that makes it work?

TV is used as the reach layer, while the creative language is intentionally social-native, so the handoff to Facebook and Twitter feels natural.

Why does the “social never sleeps” line fit NORMS?

Because NORMS is positioned as open 24 hours a day, so the always-on idea matches the operating model instead of feeling like marketing theatre.

What is the business goal behind grounding a TV spot in social?

To turn awareness into ongoing follow behaviour, so the brand gains a direct channel for repeat visits, offers, and relationship building.

What is the most transferable takeaway?

If you want social to sit above the line, treat it as the product experience, then use mass media only to accelerate adoption.