When an commercial for Cetaphil lotion was launched on-line days earlier than the Tremendous Bowl, it drew rave evaluations for a story that evoked a well-recognized story for folks, soccer followers and followers of Taylor Swift.
Within the industrial, a father unsuccessfully tries to curiosity his teenage daughter, who’s distracted by one thing on her cellphone, in a soccer sport. She goes to her bed room to finish her skin-care routine — utilizing Cetaphil on her face. She then walks downstairs to see her father watching a soccer sport whereas sporting a white jersey bearing the No. 89. The announcer may be heard saying, “Nicely of us, there she is, probably the most well-known fan on the sport,” drawing a smile from the daughter.
The daddy, sensing a chance, later walks into her room with a crimson No. 13 jersey for her and jokingly applies cream to his face earlier than imploring her to return and watch the sport. She goes downstairs, lays her cellphone on the espresso desk and curls up subsequent to her father. The advert ends with them sporting their jerseys on the sofa and laughing. An on-screen message reads, “This season, dads and daughters discovered a brand new strategy to join.”
Although it doesn’t instantly point out Taylor Swift, the advert is a nod to how the music famous person’s relationship with the Kansas Metropolis tight finish Travis Kelce was mentioned to have gotten extra fathers and daughters watching N.F.L. video games collectively this season. The No. 13 and No. 89 jerseys have been implicit references to Ms. Swift’s “fortunate quantity,” 13, and her (and Mr. Kelce’s) delivery yr, 1989. And the daddy within the advert wore friendship bracelets, as do a lot of Ms. Swift’s followers.
Customers on social media reacted positively to the advert, drawing connections to their very own lives. One TikTok consumer who posted the advert mentioned it “has me in tears.” On X, fan accounts for Ms. Swift lauded the industrial, and one consumer mentioned, “because the daughter of a soccer coach and a die-hard Swiftie, I am keen on this.”
However on Friday night time, a girl who has a well-liked TikTok account, Sharon Mbabazi, mentioned the corporate had stolen the concept for the advert from her. On her social media accounts, she shared a TikTok put up from September through which she is doing her make-up when her stepfather walks in and tells her about Mr. Kelce’s surge in Instagram followers, jersey gross sales and recognition since his relationship with Ms. Swift turned public.
The put up, whose caption reads, “My stepdad has been updating me on Taylor and Travis day-after-day since Sunday,” had 2.7 million views as of Sunday afternoon. (It’s considered one of a number of she has posted involving her, soccer and her stepfather.) He joins Ms. Mbabazi in making use of lotion to his face, all whereas offering updates on Kansas Metropolis’s efficiency or just letting her know when the Chiefs have been enjoying — and to prepare to look at the sport collectively. Ms. Mbabazi didn’t reply to a request for remark.
In an announcement on Sunday, Cetaphil mentioned the advert was “an unique creation” that was “impressed by a novel development this yr through which quite a few younger girls and ladies have been bonding with their fathers over soccer and posting about it on their social channels.” The corporate added that, after speaking with Ms. Mbabazi, it was “working with Sharon and different influencers like her,” although it didn’t specify what that meant.
Different well being and sweetness firms, which regularly give attention to girls of their advertising, maybe hoping to profit from the curiosity in Ms. Swift, marketed through the Tremendous Bowl on Sunday night time, together with E.L.F. cosmetics, NYX Make-up and Dove. (The Cetaphil advert was not scheduled to air nationally through the sport.)
Mary Scott, a professor of strategic communications at Montclair State College, mentioned Tremendous Bowl adverts have been only once they captured a sense or second the nation as a complete had lately skilled. Much more than the Swift impact, Ms. Scott mentioned, the depiction of telephones as a barrier between mother and father and their youngsters is one thing many mother and father may relate to.
She likened the Cetaphil industrial to these from the 2021 Tremendous Bowl that alluded to Individuals’ shared experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“They’ve lower into a unique actuality,” Ms. Scott mentioned, referring to the Cetaphil advert. “They simply went deeper.”
