Women Virtually Come Together to ‘Look on the Light Side’ in New Maltesers Ads

The latest instalment of Maltesers’ long-running ‘Look on the Light Side’ campaign looks at how women are getting together online, supporting each other by laughing through the ups and downs of life in quarantine. The new series of ads shot entirely through video conferencing, takes a humorous look at the struggles of balancing work-life with young children, video-dating and living alone.

Maltesers has a history of encouraging and celebrating laughter as a mechanism to break down barriers and bring women together. The brand took an important first step in normalising the representation of disability in advertising when it launched the award-winning ‘Look on the Light Side of Disability’ campaign during the 2016 Rio Paralympics. More recently, the campaign continued using the power of laughter to speak of the challenges facing underrepresented groups from the older workforce and LGBT+ community.

As the Covid-19 pandemic presents new and unique challenges to the whole country, this new digital campaign reinforces the #stayhome message and shines a spotlight on some of the day-to-day challenges facing women in self-isolation. The ads go beyond feel-good montage, to reflect the reality of life at home and show how women are using humour to create connection and make each other feel better in these extraordinary circumstances.

Nobody should have to face their challenges alone and for some people isolation is no laughing matter. On social media, the campaign will be supported by mental health charity Mind, signposting help and advice for those struggling with isolation.

Kerry Cavanaugh, marketing director at Mars Wrigley UK, said: “We wanted to show that even if we’re lucky enough to have our health and our family, we might need a little (socially-distanced) help from our friends to get through lockdown. Maltesers’ long-running ‘Look on the Light Side’ campaign has always celebrated universally awkward and embarrassing situations by laughing through the tough stuff. Now we want reinforce the #stayhome message by reflecting the reality of life at home and the ways that women are laughing together through the everyday ups and downs it brings. While laughing with friends is a great tonic, we’re mindful that for some people isolation is no laughing matter, so our social media campaign also signposts support available through mental health charity Mind."

Cavanaugh continues: “At over 80 years old, the Maltesers brand has been a part of people’s lives through generations of ups and downs, and we hope that it can still bring a much-needed smile and a moment of togetherness, even in these extraordinary times.”

AMV creative director, Matt Swinburne, said: “Lockdown sucks, but we had fun making these. It was a whirlwind production working with a great client, director and cast, and a very talented bunch of people at AMV. Hopefully these spots can make a few people smile.”

This Maltesers campaign, created by AMV BBDO, was produced, directed and shot entirely remotely, without any user-generated content. Award-winning director James Rouse of Outsider is behind the virtual camera, partnering with AMV, in new and innovative ways to produce the work, ultimately reinforcing the important #Stayhome message. The campaign will be activated in online video across Channel 4’s On Demand platform from today.