Being a mother is hard work. Being the mother of an Olympic athlete no less so.
Watch this really beautiful ad from Procter & Gamble that honours mums by showcasing some of their “behind the scenes work”
Make sure you watch till the end
Goosebumps.
Do You Like This Story?
 a Mum on http://www.mamamia.com.au){kind=link}
Comments
49 Comments so far
HOWLING.
Beautiful!
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** For anyone who has a Mum … or a Dad who is involved in their lives to that same devoted extent
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Aw I’m a softie, I got teary. The early part, waking up the gorgeous little ones.. I love those moments. This did it’s job because for the first time, I’m actually excited about the Olympics!
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Reminds me of all the early morning swimming get-ups (thanks Dad) and all those dance costumes being sewn (thanks Mum) and all those swim meets and drama and dance concerts… thanks family.
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It occurred to me as I watched the last Olympics that for every medallist, for every competitor there was an equally committed person(s) not captured on the screen….the parents.
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I know this add is just another cynical attempt to get into my wallet, but I was touched by it nevertheless. Motherhood has brought out the best version of myself and Im proud of it.
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Jeepers. I just cried from start to finish. Hormonal much?!
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Meeee tooooo!!
Partner in the backgroun saying, “what’s that silly ad?” and I’m here with tears streaming down my face!
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Meeee tooooo!!
Partner in the background saying, “what’s that silly ad?” and I’m here with tears streaming down my face!
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me threeeeeee !
gave me goosebumps literally!
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“or had” a mum?
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I woke my beautiful 10 year old son up at 5am to go swimming this morning, and asked him the usual “are you sure you want to go?” “yes mum I do” It was dark and is getting cold….. but it’s what he is good at and he wants to do it.
I loved this, it reminds me that great things happen to ordinary people -ordinary mums.
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I kind of love that there are big companies out there with the budget to make something beautiful like that. I know they are trying to sell me something but already I can’t remember what, I just remember the awesome message and how cool the clip is. Roll on capitalism and patronising multinationals. Made me feel good.
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Ooo I don’t want to be cynical but I’m studying text meaning at the moment… and we have to critically analyze the audience/purpose of multimodal texts etc… It’s a great ad targeting its audience that’s all. Well done to all the sporty mums thought, it’s nice to be recogised. Haven’t hit that phase with my babes yet.
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OMG – goosebumps – all over!! Absolutely beautiful!!
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Has anyone seen Paris I Love You – the story about the mum who is a nanny??? That’s a tear-jerker about the role of mums.
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Ohhh I remember that. So sad.
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Yes! So very sad. I still think about it from time to time and really appreciate that I have options that she did not.
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Tears on my iPad.
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SNIFF !! total cheese, but I cant resist happy endings
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I would possibly find this more touching if it wasn’t funded by a company notorious for their horrifically cruel animal testing practices. The only thing P&G care about is profit. This is just mawkish, sentimental PR.
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So if you didn’t know who funded it, it would be ok? As I mentioned below, sometimes it is just nice to say, well done. Great ad. Yes companies do care about profit, funny thing that.
But sometimes they also produce nice ads, that are more about brand buidling than specific products (such as this one). And this one isn’t really a whole lot about their brand either, but about mums who have taken the time to get up at crazy o’clock in the morning for many, many years to support their kids.
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I would put money on P&G being a major sponsor. No, it is not a “tribute” or “well-done” to anyone. P&G are a huuuugely unethical corporation, hence my cynicism and inability to take this at face value.
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Aaaaand there it is:
https://www.pgproudsponsorofmums.co.uk/tickets
Appealing to the “mum” market. Who buys medications and household products and also, as evidenced by these comments, respond to sentimental ad campaigns?
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Given my mum got up at 4.30am for nearly 10 years to support my swimming career, I don’t see it the same way. I have also worked in advertising for multinationals, so I guess my perspective is most definitely swayed by my life experiences. Multinationals are not always unethical, although I have not had any experience or genuine knowledge of P&Gs practices so I cannot comment about them specifically.
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Completely agree with your analysis, but it still makes me cry.
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If that was a real life those mums would be sitting at sports training playing with their smart phones…
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What a patronizing crock of S****t. Once again multinationals tell women how to be ‘good’. Oh I can hardly wait for the Mothers Day ads.
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I like you.
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Telling mums how to be good? Really? I saw this as thanking those mums who got up and put themselves out, not a commentary on how mums should be or what is good parenting.
Sometimes it is nice to see the positive side of life!
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How on Earth is it telling Mother’s how to be good?!!
P&G’s target market is Mothers, P&G is a global partner of the Olympics… this is an ad looking at a Mother’s role in an Olympian’s life. Simple as that.
There is no commentary on how to be a good mother. One drives their kids, one pops them on a bus, one is there when there child wins, one isn’t.
The message is simply that it’s a bloody hard job and even Olympians are thankful for the role their Mother’s play…
If you look for the negative in everything – you will find it.
?!!
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Can you please explain how this ad is telling women to be good? It’s just a video of some of things that some parents do.
For crying out loud.
You are being what a friend of mine would call an FPO – fun prevention officer.
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Thank god someone said it! I didn’t find this moving at all. I found it yet another reminder that in order to be a “good”woman you have to be self sacrificing. All this stuff about the “hardest job” in the world being the most elevated is just a ploy to make women tolerate shit work (like changing diapers and doing laundry) for no pay. I’m sorry but if domestic labor is so darn empowering and rewarding then why aren’t more men demanding their right to do it. Now to be clear- I’m not saying that MOTHERHOOD is not rewarding or empowering. I’m sure it is. But motherhood and domestic labor should not be (as they ALWAYS are) depicted as intrinsically linked. They can be quite separate things buts ads always construct them as born of one another. This seems like another attempt to glorify unpaid labour by equating it with motherhood. Can’t we celebrate motherhood on it’s own without normalizing female labour exploitation?
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It’s hardly empowering domestic labour! It’s just showing stuff that some mums do and how proud you can be sometimes. All of the stuff that the video shows mums doing, is stuff that people do in general anyway. Make breakfast, wash their clothes. It just so happens to be showing mums doing it, cause like it or not, they do those things!
I don’t find domestic work empowering or rewarding in the slightest. It just needs to be done. And I certainly didn’t ‘demand my right to do it’.
When one of my kids does something that makes me swell with pride, I am just proud of THEM. I never for a second have flashbacks to any of the domestic work that I have done to be in someway linked to what they have just achieved.
Eye roll….
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Yep, Eye Roll, that’s what I meant. I AM a mother, and I DO domestic household chores but so does my husband. He is just as involved and works just as much in and out of the home. But no ad company seems to think his role is worth “sponsoring” , or at least not one that is trying to sell cleaning products and disposable nappies. Let’s celebrate parenthood !
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Good point about parenting. In fact a subversive reading of this is that it’s an ad which undermines the traditional nuclear family by championing single mother family units. The invisibility of men in this ad is striking. Basically the message is: Olympians: raised by mothers cos their fathers do fuck all. LOL. Sorry to be ruining it to all those who clearly love this sentimental schmaltz but as far as advertising goes (and I work in the media) this dross works because it appeals to base emotions but when you examine the ideological assumptions about gender is both makes and reinforces it’s pretty bloody limp. (sorry to those who love it- I’m purely speaking with a media industry hat on here).
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My mum almost knocked over a whole bunch of kids and other mums when she followed me the entire length of my sack race course when I was 5 years old. The only ‘athletic’ thing I ever won. Now I have an almost-5-year-old myself, I can understand her excitement. I think I’ll be worse.
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just gorgeous. Crying here.
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Sob! That is beautiful.
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As the mother of a competitive gymnast I sooo relate to this. It’s true, you really do live every moment of the journey with them. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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I just watched Brittany Cairns sing that gorgeous song on the Voice… Then during the ad I watched this clip and I’m six months pregnant…
TEAR-A-FOLLOWING!!!
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Aw, Bless!!!
I would cry at anything & everything when I was pregnant!! The toys in the ABC store, that Cold Chisel song “Flame Trees”…
All the best for the next 3 months (and beyond!). Xx
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Sob!
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Shed a tear!
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The universal experience of mother love. Thank you ad agency – this is just beautiful.
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Sob! Love this!
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Oh god… my 5 year old swam her first full lap of beautiful, stylish freestyle the other week in her swimming lesson and that made me well up, cheer and jump up and down.
Can’t imagine what I’d be like if she or her sister were on the world stage!
Regardless though, it’s the moments that when you feel so proud that are THE BEST about being a parent.
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My three year old finally stuck her face in the water and I was the same! No hope for me…
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