Key takeaways:
- Elevit launched its 40th-anniversary campaign on Mother’s Day 2024 with help from Ylab.
- The main short film shows mothers’ unwavering support for their children before they are born, with a punny title that plays on the meaning of “carry” (挺).
- With a call for stories and giveaways, the campaign also highlights followers’ stories with their mothers and Elevit’s support for mothers throughout the years.
2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Elevit, the prenatal multivitamin from Bayer, the German pharmaceuticals giant. Elevit has been manufacturing preconception and pregnancy supplements such as vitamins and folic acid since 1984.
It seemed only natural that the multivitamin maker would take advantage of Mother’s Day for its anniversary year. Teaming up with the agency Ylab, the brand brought out a campaign celebrating mothers, centred around a short film titled “Mom is the First One to Carry You” (妈妈是第一个挺你的人).
Pun intended
The video starts with a female astronaut looking at earth from a porthole of a spacecraft in the future. It quickly cuts to 1984, where we see a pregnant woman sitting on the back seat of a bicycle with an upbeat funky track playing in the background. This sets the tone of the video as it progresses into 1992, 1998, 2001, 2013 and 2020 before leaping into the future and ending with the astronaut. Each of the years featured shows the contemporaneous trends in pregnancy such as “reproductive health” in the early 80s, part of the family planning policy at the time, or the trend of playing music to unborn babies in the 1990s, all the way up to the trend of entrepreneurship in the early 2010s or the “laying flat” relaxed and yoga-influenced parenthood in the 2020s.
The title itself is a play on the word “挺” (ting), which is often used to describe pregnant women carrying the baby in their protruding bellies. However, figuratively it can also mean significant support, similar to “carry” in gaming slang where a player “carries” the game or team by playing a significant role. It has been reported the meaning of “挺” as in “support” came from Taiwan with Hokkien origins.
For mothers
According to Ylab, Elevit’s campaign aims to highlight mothers’ unwavering support for their children before they are born, as well as reflect on how both the government policies and society are supporting women as the times move forward. With the resonant message of mother’s selfless support before their children were born, the video also implies the nutritional support Elevit provides to mothers. The ad brings attention to the brand’s promotion of the “National Birth Defects Prevention Day” on 12 September each year, as well as the series of educational free seminars and consultations Elevit holds for prenatal care.
With the resonant message of mother’s selfless support before their children were born, the video also implies the nutritional support Elevit provides to mothers
On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “Mom is the first one to carry you” reached number 16 on the Hot Search list with 280 million views, 260,000 comments and 610,000 engagements, staying on the list for 1 hour and 25 minutes. On lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu (RED), the post gained 233 likes and 84 saves, much more than the usual posts from Elevit.
Expecting
The campaign involves calling for stories between users and their mothers on Weibo, as well as educational posts about pregnancy on Xiaohongshu. The brand followed up with a round-up of heart-warming stories from followers. Interestingly, Elevit also hosted a giveaway of merch such as gold-bean equipped bracelets and lucky-summoning phone stickers to “expect” good luck (好孕, hao yun, playing on the fact that 孕, pregnancy and 运, luck sound the same in Chinese).
The ad taps into the recent trend in nostalgia for the past decades, usually aimed at millennials
With dwindling birth rates still causing concern but marriage picking up in 2023, both the authorities and society are trying to provide support during pregnancy and birth. Elevit’s Mother’s Day campaign, like many in recent years, serves mostly as an institutional campaign but it ties back to its products. The ad taps into the recent trend in nostalgia for the past decades such as the CNY campaign from Leng Suan Ling, or the anniversary campaign from Minute Maid, usually aimed at millennials.
