Welcome back to Ad Nauseam, where we delve into the art of commercial storytelling. In this installment, we explore Etsy's debut "Big Game" spot, Gift Mode put together by the creatives at Orchard. Gift Mode is Etsy's innovative new software tool that suggests ideal gifts based on user input such as "Who are you shopping for?", "What's the occasion?", and "What are they into?" The client brief for this was no doubt challenging: They probably wanted a comedy premise that effectively introduces a new product in 30 seconds and on the biggest stage for advertising. The result is a highly memorable spot that has a great comedy setup and successfully articulates the functionality of Etsy's Gift Mode.
Watch the 60s spot below.
No copyright infringement intended.
Let's talk about Super Bowl... er "the Big Game" advertising for a minute. Introducing a new product during the big game is a bold move; the stakes are incredibly high. The Big Game commands the broadest audience in advertising, with over 100 million viewers tuning in. This immense reach comes with a hefty price tag, with 30-second spots costing $7 million just for the ad buy. Therefore, the pressure is on to make every second count and ensure that the message resonates with a diverse and expansive audience. Further augmenting the pressure is that, unlike targeted campaigns that focus on specific demographics, a Big Game spot must appeal to viewers across all demos and interests. The creative team at Orchard had to craft a narrative that was universally relatable yet specific enough to highlight the unique features of Etsy’s Gift Mode.
The creative jumping-off point was clear; they wanted to tap into the emotions of gift-giving and receiving. This could have taken them in many directions, but they chose to evoke a universally felt concept of “gift guilt”: the feeling of getting an incredible gift and knowing in your heart of hearts that the gift you got the gifter (or might have gotten) is nowhere near as good or, in some cases, even equivalent to the one that you got. Yeah. That reads how it feels. That very familiar social pressure is a great setup for this and any number of spots where people panic about what to get someone, and Gift Mode comes to the rescue. The creatives, knowing they needed to deliver a comedy premise, chose to look at a historically great gift, “The Statue of Liberty,” and ask what would Grover Cleveland have done if he had Gift Mode available to him? It's best that the viewers not think about the implications of a person from the late 1800s having a phone and the internet, but I digress.
The Gift Mode product is, of course, predicated on the occasion of gift-giving itself and the interests of the intended recipient, so the natural next step is to ask what the French are interested in. This really seems to stump the room until someone meekly suggests that they like cheese. This itself feels like a minor missed opportunity for some comedy banter about the stereotypical things the French might like and poking fun at the room's limited knowledge of what a great friend and ally's interests are. However, the cheese suggestion proves to be a lightning strike moment, and our Grover Cleveland facsimile pulls the trigger on ordering a cheese board for the Republic of France. Later in the spot, the cheese board is joyfully received by a crowd that looks like extras from Les Misérables (I actually don't recall a mime in the musical, but you get the point).
Overall, the reception was pretty strong for Etsy's first foray into the blood sport that is the Big Game. It ranked strongly in all of the Monday morning quarterbacking that occurred in the press and seemed to have wide appeal with audiences. While I think the setup was fantastic, from a storytelling perspective, I do think there were some opportunities to conclude the spot with a more complete narrative that still touts the power of Gift Mode. To me, the funniest thing about this spot is that these gifts are actually wildly asymmetrical. They are not equivalent at all, and in the end, the people of France seem okay with it, but the very opening of the spot acknowledges that Lady Liberty is, in fact, a great gift and that American leadership is a little panicked about how to return the favor. In my view, it’s more effective for a gift to not live up to the moment, then Gift Mode gets to be the answer to that problem. Imagine a spot that concludes with a disappointed French mob and an ambassador forcing a polite “merci” or even the mime breaking character and saying, "we already have cheese." “Next time use Etsy Gift Mode.” All this to say, it’s a really effective spot that I have minor notes for, but it more than gets the job done.
There’s also potential for a larger campaign around other historically great gifts (The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Hanno the White Elephant, The Orlov Diamond) but there's also a lot of room for a different campaign all together that explores more grounded and relatable scenarios that could be really impactful. Showcasing modern-day situations where someone uses Gift Mode to find a perfect, personalized gift for a very hard-to-shop-for friend or family member with niche interests has the potential to create a really strong emotional connection and something that is incredibly relatable to a wide audience. Additionally, highlighting genuine reactions to receiving thoughtful gifts would reinforce Etsy's brand values.
Etsy’s "Big Game" spot exemplifies the complexities and rewards of advertising on such a grand stage. It required a balance of broad appeal and specific messaging, emotional storytelling, and visual impact. As the first big game spot for Etsy, it set a high bar for how to introduce a new product to the largest audience in advertising. It makes us wonder, what would Grover Cleveland do?
In our next installment of Ad Nauseam, we'll continue to explore the art and science behind some of the most memorable advertising campaigns. Stay tuned for more insights into the world of narrative storytelling in commercials.
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