The commercial opens with three real-life moms arriving on set to audition for the role of Lilly, a mom struggling to make ends meet in a Teleflora’s Mother’s Day commercial.
Each woman is filmed separately at a table, reading a scripted letter from Lilly’s daughter.
“Dear mom, every good thing I have in my life is because of you. I know what you sacrificed and I will never be able to really thank you for it. Happy Mother’s Day,” the women read.
Then the producers hand each of the actresses another letter to read. These letters mention family members by name and memories of dancing to country music and gluing sugar cubes together for a fourth-grade project.
“Oh, a real letter,” one of the actresses comments when she realizes the letter is not a script. It’s not long before tears begin to flow as they finish the letter in choked voices and are met by their grown children, who appeared on stage with flowers and hugs.
“The spot captures the moment when the actresses realize that they are not auditioning for the part but have been living this role of a lifetime — no casting calls, callbacks, or approvals required,” Teleflora said in a statement about the campaign.
The commercial, “Role of a Lifetime,” was developed to show the impact that mothers have on their children, Teleflora said.
“This Mother’s Day, Teleflora wanted to authentically capture the impact moms have on their children and remind her of how magnificent she is,” said Danielle Mason, vice president of marketing for Teleflora. “Our social experiment achieved what we wish for all moms — for their sons and daughters to genuinely recognize and celebrate the priceless role mom has played in shaping their lives.”
Teleflora described the commercial, an extension of their “Love Out Loud” brand, as a “social experiment” and hopes it encourages everyone to celebrate their mothers.
“These mothers and actresses were so loving and real — it moved all of us to tears. I was overjoyed to work with the Teleflora team to bring these stories to life and, after we met our moms in casting, hearing their amazing stories, we knew we were onto something really powerful,” said Barbara Kopple, two-time Academy Award-winning film director. “Hopefully we inspire people to let their moms know how much they mean to them this Mother’s Day, and other times would be nice, too.”
The commercial launched Monday and is being shown on premium streaming services and YouTube. Parts of the video are also being used on social media.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the managing editor of SAF NOW.
