As a brand founded by a mother (Katerina Schneider), Ritual Vitamins is launching a bold integrated campaign and rallying cry to “Trace Like a Motherf*cker” – celebrating the brand’s unique commitment to traceability, which allows consumers to track where ingredients come from in the world and why they are there.
With a :45 film directed by Sundance-winning director Kate Jean Hollowell, “Trace Like a Motherf*cker” is a tribute to the deep care, attention to detail, and obsessive researching that it takes when finding the right supplements – along with a promise that Ritual “traces like a motherf*cker” because they’re made by a mother – and they do it for you, whether you’re a mother or not.
With a variety of :15 and :10 cutdowns running across streaming and social, Ritual is also running OOH in Los Angeles and Dallas, creating an integrated campaign designed for connected environments that over-index with Ritual’s audience.
“If you build a Venn diagram around mothers and motherf*ckers, you realize they both go hard," said Giant Spoon creative director Lexi Rodriguez. “With Ritual being founded by a mother, we wanted to lean into that unapologetic mom energy and celebrate the brand’s obsession with quality ingredients and traceability. Just like Ritual – moms ask all the questions, do the invisible labour, and have the receipts.”
“Ritual asked for 'punk rock', so from the start this was an exercise in defying convention,” said Giant Spoon creative director Olivia-Jené Fagon. “Portraying a multifaceted millennial woman—badass, charismatic, and warm—without tired mom clichés was key. Vitamin ads also tend to be dull and functional so comedy was our unexpected ace, but we didn't sacrifice visual quality. We created a world of elevated realism for our mom that still packs a punch.”
Navigating the ever-changing wellness space can be challenging and consumers are questioning and researching everything, now more than ever – which often amounts to added emotional labour. Unlike other wellness brands, Ritual scours the world to find ingredient suppliers that care as much about their impact as they do, pursues third-party testing and certifications to show someone else is validating the safety of their products, and prioritises their investment in clinical studies and scientific research to show they work.
By bringing a frank, unabashed energy to the creative, Ritual’s’ “Trace Like a Motherf*cker” is rallying a community of healthy sceptics to embrace their obsession over better health and quality ingredients.