Media Decoder: AT&T’s Ads With Cute Kids Are a Neat Fit for Mother’s Day

AT&T’s Ads With Cute Kids Are a Neat Fit for Mother’s Day

The popular campaign for AT&T featuring commercials with interviews of cute schoolchildren in the style of “Kids Say the Darnedest Things” is being expanded to help children, of whatever age, celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday.

Children are cute in a special commercial for Mother's Day from AT&T that can be turned into a video card.

AT&T is offering consumers â€" regardless of which carrier they use â€" a chance to visit a microsite, or special Web site, to send personalized video cards to their mothers for Mother’s Day. The video clip that will be part of the greeting also forms the basis for the newest commercial in AT&T’s series of cute-children spots.

The new commercial, which is to begin running on television on Friday, plays down any pitching for AT&T. The company’s logo is there, though, and the spot uses the theme of the current campaign, “It’s not complicated.”

And, it ought to be noted, Mother’s Day is typically the busiest day of the year each year for phoning, sending texts and other telecommunicating.

But the new commercial eschews overt selling in favor of a general greeting to mothers. The commercial presents Beck Bennett, the comedian who interviews the children in each spot, asking, “What’s better, a big hug or a small hug?” (Big, natch.)

And when he asks, “Who gives the best hugs?” the response is unanimous: “Mom.”

An announcer comes on at the end to declare: “It’s not complicated. Moms are the best. Happy Mother’s Day from AT&T.”

The AT&T part is missing from the version that can be personalized on the microsite, ATTmothersday.com, which is being billed as the “AT&T Mother’s Day Card Maker.” (There are AT&T brand logos, lest one forget the sponsor.)

The video cards, which can be sent via Facebook, Twitter or e-mail, will end with the words “To the best mom ever” and be signed, “Love,” followed by the given names provided by users.

AT&T will also promote the video card in social media like Facebook and YouTube.

The Mother’s Day commercial is the second time since the campaign began in November that a special spot based on a calendar event is being produced. For the N.C.A.A. tournament, AT&T and its advertising agency, BBDO Atlanta, brought out a commercial in which Mr. Bennett bantered with professional basketball legends.

That raises a question: How many times can AT&T and BBDO Atlanta go to the well before it runs dry?

“We look at that very carefully,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer at the AT&T Mobility unit of AT&T in Atlanta.

“We measure this campaign, and every campaign, every which way to Sunday,” he added, “measuring wear-out and sentiment.” So far, the campaign is still a hit, Mr. Christopher said, and still being welcomed by consumers.

Stephen McMennamy, a creative director at BBDO Atlanta â€" part of the BBDO Worldwide division of the Omnicom Group â€" said the goal was to reserve special spots “for special moments,” adding, “We by no means want to be greedy about it.”

“You can overdo something like this,” Mr. McMennamy acknowledged. To that end, the run of the commercial on television is being limited to three days, Friday through Sunday, rather than a longer period.

What about Father’s Day?

“We haven’t talked about that yet,” Mr. McMennamy replied. “I feel like once Dad sees this, there might be a tear.”

AT&T is among scores of marketers coming out with special campaigns for Mother’s Day. There are far fewer ad agencies doing so, with a notable exception: the agency known as Mother, which is based in London and has offices in New York and Buenos Aires.

Each year, staff members in London and New York create projects for Mother’s Day. The 2013 effort from Mother New York is centered on a microsite, themomtract.com, offering a mock contract that rewards a mother for her child-raising.