In the ramp up to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, we can anticipate an influx of emotionally manipulative schmaltz designed to sell product, but this series of ads by Proctor & Gamble has somehow managed to overcome all of my anti-schmaltz defense mechanisms and made me cry like a toddler who just experienced her first ice skate wipe out SANS MOM.
There are dozens of these. Dozens. And they’re all heartwarming, but just because it’s cold outside and I’m assuming that most of you are reading this from safely inside, away from temperatures that could instantly turn your tears into ice rivers on your face, here are the two that really made me lose it.
But this, about Paralympian Amy Purdy, really brought out the waterworks.
While my first response to videos by a company that claims to be a “proud sponsor of Moms” was to scoff (pedantic liberal thought vomit: if Procter & Gamble were actually a proud sponsor of moms in a real way that extends beyond these TV ads, they’d actively lobby for universal paid maternity leave and affordable childcare for working mothers and they’d be industry leaders in allowing P&G employees who happen to have families to have the flexibility they need to spend time with their children without sacrificing productivity at work, and they’d make sure that their products were free from chemicals that can give moms cancer. AND ANOTHER THING WHAT ABOUT THE DADS —- etc), the fact that P&G is far from perfect doesn’t eclipse that the athletes who are about to compete in the Olympics have worked incredibly hard, and have enjoyed the support of incredible people. As we all have.
