Mother’s Day campaigns that caught consumers’ attention

Mother’s Day advertising campaigns in the U.S. took a different approach this year. Instead of focusing only on gift-giving, many brands highlighted themes such as mental health, emotional connection, self-care, and shared experiences.

A week after Mother’s Day, data from YouGov BrandIndex shows that a range of campaign styles resonated with U.S. audiences. The analysis looks at brands that recorded gains in Ad Awareness scores over the past 30 days following their Mother’s Day campaigns.

Mother’s Day advertising campaign analysis: Panera Bread, Ford, DoorDash and L’Oréal Paris

Panera Bread recorded a significant increase in Ad Awareness. Its “Meet Your Mom Meal” campaign featured real mother-child pairs sharing meaningful conversations over their favorite Panera orders. The campaign helped lift the brand’s Ad Awareness score by 3.2 percentage points.

Ford marked the occasion with “Born in a Ford,” an advertisement based on the story of an unplanned ambulance birth inside a Ford vehicle. By positioning its cars within an emotional and high-stakes moment, the automaker saw an upward trend in Ad Awareness since the advert was released (+1.8 percentage points).

DoorDash launched its “Real Moms of the Group Chat” campaign, which focused on mothers supporting one another through everyday conversations. Alongside the campaign, the company offered promotional deals through May 11. DoorDash’s Ad Awareness score rose from 30.9% on May 10 to 33.5% on May 17, an increase of 2.6 percentage points.

L’Oréal Paris partnered with Ulta Beauty on a nationwide retail and social media campaign celebrating the diverse identities and experiences of mothers. The campaign began on April 17 and contributed to a modest increase in Ad Awareness (+1.8 percentage points).

These campaigns suggest that audiences are responding to advertising that reflects real experiences and emotional authenticity rather than traditional promotional messaging alone.

Methodology: BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. A brand’s Ad Awareness score is based on the question: “Which of the following consumer brands have you seen an advertisement for in the past two weeks?” and delivered as a percentage. The data is based on the interviews of U.S. adults aged 18+ between April 18 and May 17, 2926. Learn more about BrandIndex. 

Image: Getty Images