'Pooface' ad captures babies' hilarious slow-motion expressions as they're making doody
For some, it's a baby making a funny face. For parents, it's a subtle visual cue that baby made a stink. It's known as the "pooface."
The new ad for Pampers, Procter & Gamble's baby care brand, features the wrinkled and strained facial contortions of 10 babies while they fill their diapers. Set to Richard Strauss's rousing track "Also sprach Zarathustra," famously featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the slow-motion footage captures the hilarious confusion and anxiety the babies experience for a moment while signaling to parents they're due for a change.
The online video, made by Saatchi & Saatchi London agency, is part of the new "Don't Fear The Mess" campaign for Pampers Baby Wipes, and has raked up 1.2 million views on YouTube in less than a week and is already snagging awards: a bronze Lion in Film at Cannes, and a silver and a bronze in Film Craft.
Though some online users believe the babies' reactions were staged, Pampers says the babies you see in the ad are legitimately making poo.
"The babies in the video were actually filmed 'in the act,'" wrote Procter & Gamble spokesperson Heather Valento in an email to ABC. "We worked with their moms to schedule taping according to each baby's usual schedule. The expressions you see on the babies faces reflect before, during, and after."
"By talking about the unmentionable in a unique and memorable way, we hope to remove some of the anxiety and stress that mess, in all its forms, can create for parents," added Valento.
