by Dan Perkins

Moms hold a special place in every community we'll ever cover.  And, when it comes to celebrating mom's special day, Mother's Day, we tend to get a little sentimental and begin looking for television commercials that present African American moms and families in new and innovative ways.

This year, our hands-down favorite is T-Mobile's "Brain-switcher." 

We're delighted to select "Brain-switcher," developed by Publicis/Seattle, as the first television commercial featured in our new series called "On the Spot."  We reserve "On the Spot" coverage to commercials that excel in a variety of capacities, but most notably, in their positive and/or cutting edge portrayal of African Americans and other racial minorities.

"Brain-switcher" shows a loving, smart, successful Black family that's very well connected.  In the spot, Mom, a busy executive, stops to answer a call on her cell phone from her husband who is at home, with the kids.  Dad tells mom that he has something to show her.  Then he turns his T-Mobile cell phone in the direction of their daughter who is about to perform another trial run of her scientific experiment.  Their little girl has a bit of Frankenstein in her because she about to conduct an experiment that involves switching brains between her little brother and the family dog.  Don't worry, everyone is a willing participant in the experiment, and reportedly no animals or little brothers were hurt in the filming of the spot.  At first it appears the experiment has failed, but mom soon receives evidence of the experiment's success.  What mom sees and hears on her T-Mobile picture-phone is enough to knock her off her feet; and it's enough to get viewers on their feet laughing.  "Brain-switcher" is clever and very funny!

While the staff at dib believes the images of successful Black parents fully engaged in the educational development of their children is the kind of positive image that warrants praise and attention, we're equally delighted that the creators of Brain-switcher" wrapped those images around a hilarious storyline. 

Every member of the dib-staff saw "Brain-switcher" separately, and under very different circumstances, yet all of us had the same reaction.  We laughed out loud!  And the combination of humor and wit gives "Brain-switcher" enormous and universal appeal.

Obviously, a great team put this spot together, and we're pleased to acknowledge them in the credits above.  The more we studied "Brain-switcher" the more messages we discovered that warrant discussion.  "Brain-switcher" contains multiple messages that are affirming of the African American community and healthy for the nation to see.  The messages are subtly interwoven into the storyline.  It is the skill with which those messages are incorporated into the storyline that make "Brain-switcher" a prime example of cutting-edge multicultural marketing.

For readers who don't study ads, we'll take a moment to explain multicultural marketing.  With the dramatic rise in the disposable income of African Americans and other racial minorities, marketers have developed an intense interest in influencing how that income is spent.  This phenomenon - the growth of minority income and the quest to capture a portion of that income - is the direct result of America becoming a more open and inclusive society roughly forty years ago. 

Initially, marketers engaged in ethnic marketing, which involves marketing products specifically designed for, or consumed by, a specific racial or ethnic group.  Today, marketers are eagerly seeking ways to market all kinds of goods and services to diverse communities within America.  That quest to capture the hearts and minds of racial and ethnic consumers is what's behind multicultural marketing.

"Brain-switcher" is a prime example of an effective multicultural ad.  It appeals to a multitude of cultures while remaining anchored in the African American family. 

General-market marketing and multicultural marketing both attempt to influence behavior by emphasizing and accentuating situations, emotions, needs, and aspirations that are universally shared.  Unlike traditional general-market marketing, or what was the norm in general-market marketing ten- to twenty-years ago, multicultural marketing is firmly rooted in one or more racial or ethnic communities, but may appeal well beyond those communities. 

Below are five reasons why we're all worked up over "Brain-switcher."  Since the creators of "Brain-switcher" created such a clever and funny spot, we thought we'd have some fun with our review of it.  Enjoy.

The End

All "Brain-switcher" images are courtesy of Publicis/Seattle.

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