How Tide Got 3 NBC Shows Arguing About 'Laundry Night'

It’s a Tide ad … even though the Super Bowl is still five months away.

During NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast this weekend, the Procter & Gamble detergent brand aired a quartet of cheeky, star-studded, supremely self-aware spots asking, “When is laundry night?”

Peyton Manning kicked things off at the close of the first quarter, with a mock NFL press conference—at first, seemingly part of the game telecast—declaring that Sunday nights are made for football, and that trips to the laundry room can wait until Tuesday. 

Not so fast, Sheriff. (That’s Manning’s nickname! We googled it!) In the very next spot to air, Gwen Stefani roughed up the former Colts and Broncos quarterback for his announcement. If everyone’s doing laundry on Tuesday, she groused, they won’t be able to watch her NBC show, The Voice. 

At the two-minute warning of the first half, Manning returned with an apology of sorts, proposing that one of the five other days—but certainly not Tuesday or Sunday!—should be designated for laundry. 

Finally, cast members of NBC’s Superstore—Lauren Ash, who plays Dina, and Mark McKinney, who plays Glenn—appeared in the very next ad after the “apology,” and were not amused. They worried that Thursday, when their sitcom airs, could be chosen for getting those bloomers squeaky clean. 

Tide agency Saatchi & Saatchi New York tells Muse that the idea stemmed from two truths about Sunday: It’s the day of the week when the most households do laundry (over 200 million loads, the shop says), and also, obviously, one of the premier days for watching football. These two insights combined for some built-in tension for maximum engagement. 

The battle was a Twitter trending topic on Sunday night, so the agency believes the effort paid off. 

Clearly, Tide is channeling some of the meta mojo generated by its 2017 and ’18 Super Bowl campaigns. In 2017, the brand aired a surreal commercial romp that seemingly began in the broadcast booth before morphing into Terry Bradshaw’s zany quest to remove a stain from his shirt. In 2018, “It’s a Tide Ad” skewered big-game advertising stereotypes across all four quarters, with David Harbour presiding over spots that spoofed Mr. Clean and the Old Spice Guy, among others.

Both campaigns, also devised by Saatchi, received high praise, with “It’s a Tide Ad” winning the Super Clio, which honors the best campaign in the Super Bowl. (Tide did a follow-up stunt in the fall of 2018, with a pair of spots integrated into Fox’s Thursday Night Football broadcast.) 

“When Is Laundry Night?” isn’t quite as daring as either of the two Super Bowl gems, which gained considerable gravitas by strutting their stuff on advertising’s premier stage. Still, the new work’s extended narrative delivers its culturally aware message with impressive style, making the spots welcome additions to Tide’s evolving, ever-innovative spin cycle.

CREDITS

Client: Procter & Gamble
President North America Fabric Care – Sundar Raman    
Associate Brand Director – Amy Krehbiel
Brand Manager – Jennifer Maxwell
Assistant Brand Manager – Bo Harrison
BBIC – Kimberly Doebereiner
Manager, Advertising Production – Paul Chick
Senior Media Brand Manager – Kristen Barkimer 
Head of Media Partnerships – Craig Stimmel
Media Investments & Partnerships – Adam Alvarez

Agency: 
Saatchi & Saatchi New York/ Woven Collaborative
Chief Executive Officer – Andrea Diquez
Chief Operation Officer – Sarah Beaumont
Chief Creative Officer – Paul Bichler
Executive Creative Director – Daniel Lobaton
Creative Director – Zack Menna
Creative Director – Rich Singer
Associate Creative Director – Lauren Varvara
Senior Art Director – Jacopo Biorcio
Senior Copywriter – Blake Morris
Head of Production, Fabric Care – Dani Stoller
Producer – Danielle Hallack 
Associate Producer – Katie Lemke
SVP, Account Director – Cheryl Loo
Account Director – Jen Brotman
Account Supervisor – Jennifer McGill
Account Executive – TJ Daigler
Planning Director – Nayantara Mukherji
Planning Director – Mike Mou
Digital Director – Alan Lin
Senior Business Affairs Manager – Lisa Rimmer

Marina Maher Ketchum/ Woven Collaborative
Communications and Influence Brand Lead – Dustin Sveum
Senior Account Supervisor, Brand Manager – Abbey Scalia
Director of Content Marketing – Edwin Endlich
Vice President, Brand Engagement – Bill Blatchley
Social Media Strategist – David Whitely

Procter & Gamble Fabric Care Media/ Woven Collaborative
Media Director – Tracy Suer 
Associate Director of Media – Patrick McGuinness
Media Specialist – Shannon Smith

Sports PR: Taylor Strategy 
Account Director – Sade Ayodele
Account Executive – Halley Barnes
Digital Specialist – Mike Macias 

Sports Marketing: MKTG
Senior Vice President – Sam Riber
Senior Director – Jordan Futscher  
Account Associate – Rob Sipniewski 

Celebrity Talent Acquisition: Platinum Rye Entertainment 
Director, Sports Marketing – Brad Griffiths 
Director, Talent – Lori Heckman
Manager, Talent – Casey Grochocinski
Manager, Talent – Valeria Holmes

Production: Biscuit Filmworks
Director – Aaron Stoller
Partner / Managing Director – Shawn Lacy
Executive Producer – Holly Vega
Producer – Mala Vasan
Head of Production – Mercedes Allen-Sarria, Rachel Glaub
Director of Photography – Jo Willems
Director of Photography – Matthew Libatique
Production Designer – Alexis Ross
Production Designer – Tim Moen

Production: Moving Parts
Producer – Maureen Tunney 

Post Production: Harbor Picture Company
CEO – Zak Tucker
Senior Editor – Steve Evans
Assistant Editor – Quenton Jones
Executive Producer – Jesse Schwartz
Senior Producer – Jennifer Tremaglio
Colorist -Roman Hankewycz
Flame Artist – Zimei Song 
Flame Artist – Kevan Lee 
Assistant Flame Artist – Ben Williams
GFX – Candy Sui
GFX – Q Choi
GFX – Ted Chen

Music: Pickle
Composer – Alexis Estiz & Assa Raviv
Executive Producer – Erika Freijo 

NBC Universal
Senior Vice President, Client Partnerships – Maureen Murphy
Vice President, Creative Director – Kim Blando
Creative Director – Abby Marsh
Creative Director – Joseph Kanellitsas
Director, Post Production – Sal Jurado
Vice President, Creative Partnerships – Sarah Wehrli