2009 July, 10th

Mihaela Lica

The latest commercial by Evian, known as “Babies on skates” – improperly, since the babies are actually on roller-skates (and they are called “roller babies” on the official Evian live young site)- has triggered hot reactions online: from Mashable where Pete Cashmore dissects the anatomy of a YouTube marketing campaign to EW.com where Mike Bruno is “crept out” by the idea of babies acting like adults.

Whether we like it or not, Evian’s “Babies on Skates” commercial is a hit. Brilliant in nature, the commercial appeals at the most receptive part of the audience: mothers and fathers and all those who want babies. The little computer-animated characters in the commercial are beyond cute: they are skilled, funny, smart, everything anyone would like a newborn to be.

Commercials with babies almost never go wrong, but in this particular case we are not simply talking about an infant crawling and wearing  Pampers. The messages in the Evian commercial are more subtle, almost as subtle as naïve spelled backwards (naïvE = Evïan). The music “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugarhill Gang, is the ideal accompaniment for this spot, too. We are not dealing here with an Ally McBeal type of 3D rendered dancing baby – the Evian babies are more realistically rendered and way cuter:

PRs are not advertisers – they are advisors: certainly, a PR person was in the board of advisors for this commercial. Evian cannot afford a flop: offending the target audience could generate a PR disaster for any company.

I am not trying to defend any PR with this: no matter how long I watch the Evian “Babies on Skates” commercial I find nothing creepy. I am mother of a 9 months old baby – who looks pretty much like the babies in this commercial – so if I would find anything “creepy” or “offensive” I’d be the first to say so. Evian did an excellent job creating an entertaining commercial, however, I am not that inspired to buy Evian after I see it. I am more inspired to stare at my baby, if you know what I mean.

This could make an interesting survey: as a consumer, how do you feel after you watch this commercial? Inspired to buy Evian, amused or crept out?

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About the Author

Mihaela Lica is senior partner at Pamil Visions PR and editor at Everything PR. She is a widely cited authority on search engine optimization and public relations issues, with an experience of over 7 years in online PR and SEO. Mihaela writes for SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, and other online publications. She also maintains a personal blog called eWritings. Follow Mig on Twitter or send her an email at mig [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.

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