An Israeli-made commercial for M6 razor blades has taken the world by storm with its audacious documentary detailing a 44-year-old father’s experience of shaving his beard for the first time in 14 years.
The genre of emotional and heartwarming advertisements is recognized across the globe, and “My New Face” — the three-minute online film by Israeli agency Baumann Ber Rivnay (BBR) Saatchi & Saatchi Israel for Super-Pharm pharmacy chain’s private label of razor blades — is heading toward the upper echelons of the field.
Like “Giving” – the touching commercial for a Thai telecom that had the world crying over its ad in 2013 – the Israeli razor ad succeeds in communicating a powerful message (this time, of family love).
The ad executives knew that they could not match the budgets of major razor brands and instead looked for a creative solution with just as influential an impact.
When they came up with the idea of documenting someone’s first shave, BBR’s executives weren’t sure that Super-Pharm would take a chance on an unscripted mini film.
“We were offering to shoot a documentary, which is not your regular advertising format where things are scripted,” BBR’s Eva Hasson told Adweek. “This format is a lot riskier, and we warned our client that we may ultimately go through all the motions and end up with nothing. This was a gutsy decision by the client.”
The commercial was actually shot three times with three different main characters, according to Adweek. The story of Amit and his family’s precious reactions was the one chosen to sell the six-bladed cartridge razor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8PPYv83wtY
The viral buzz has seen the ad get picked up by the likes of GQ, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and the Daily Mail. American actor Ashton Kutcher also posted a link to the commercial on his Facebook page.
The content advert has done so well that BBR added English subtitles to its YouTube version for the world to enjoy.