The babycare and parenting sectors are rife with unattainable goals and constant comparison. A pervasive pressure which is not helped by the social media sites littered with unrealistic achievements or judgements that are often not founded in the truthful challenges and chaos of parenthood.

To inspire self-belief in parents, WaterWipes have chosen to depict babies’ skin in the most honest way possible for the brand’s first TV ad. Created by The Brooklyn Brothers, the slot celebrates every unapologetic detail of babies’ skin, in every form, colour and condition.

The brand’s aim is to challenge the unrealistic imagery often shared by brands, so they worked with six real families rather than actors on the shoot, depicting those moments in a day that bring parent and baby closer to one another. The campaign sets out to combat the unrealistic idea of perfection that can lead many parents to second guess themselves or question whether their baby’s skin is ‘normal’.

The team worked with food photographer and director Jason Lowe to capture visceral and detailed depictions of baby skin and director of photography Suzie Lavelle, known for her recent work on the acclaimed BBC TV series Normal People.

Amanda Smith, Vice President of Brand Communications at WaterWipes, explained: “We saw this as an opportunity to not just show parents that we understand skin like no other brand, but actually change the conversation in the category by creating a TV ad that doesn’t just broadcast to parents, but empowers them.” 

Culture, and by dint advertising, often perpetuates damaging and long-held stereotypes and nowhere is this more apparent than within the parenting and childcare sector. By changing the narrative and shifting the way in which parenting is depicted, WaterWipes is working to support and empower each family and to point out that they are all doing just fine.