Between cryptocurrency, meme stocks and the overnight ubiquity of sports gambling, the world of personal finance has never been more complicated. Luckily, in a 30-second spot called “Off The Grid,” a reluctant hero has reemerged to guide amateur investors through the new world of investing.
The E*Trade baby, a character that first emerged in 2008, returned in the first quarter of the Super Bowl for the first time since 2014. Since his last appearance, the baby has grown up, at least metaphorically: The spot finds the E*Trade baby living a life of peaceful solitude, alone in the woods, living in a log cabin that he presumably built.
The creative, developed in partnership with E*Trade’s creative agency of record, MullenLowe, captures the efforts of two executives as they try to convince the baby genius to return to the world. The tiny hermetic toddler, unconvinced, initially declines. He is no longer the baby he once was.
The two executives continue their efforts to persuade the E*Trade baby, informing the flannel-wearing woodsman that inflation is rising and people are letting their income languish in their bank accounts, uninvested. Still, the baby is resolute.
Growing desperate, the executives play their strongest card: “They’re taking financial advice from memes,” she pleads. The E*Trade baby, shocked, spits out his drink.
“I’ll get my onesies,” he replies, as a helicopter takes flight and Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” sounds in the background.
Baby One More Time
The original E*Trade baby campaign, from 2008, sought to underscore how simple the software made online investing. A baby in a high-chair, voiced by an adult man, purchased a stock before spitting up on himself.
The world of personal finance has grown more complex since then, thanks to a variety of novel assets, investment platforms and economic conditions. Amateur investors have never needed reassurance more, making now a prime time for the E*Trade baby to return.
E*Trade aired a teaser for “Off The Grid,” which captured the two executives as they tried to persuade the baby financier to return. Released on YouTube a week prior to the Super Bowl, “The Search Is On” ends with the camera zooming in on a baby monitor, leading one of the executives to ask if it’s past his bedtime.
The last two Super Bowl ads from E*Trade, which ran in 2018 and 2021, made no mention of the baby. Last year’s spot poked fun at the at-home workouts the pandemic forced people to adopt, and its 2018 creative portrayed senior citizens still hard at work, a reminder of how critical it is to invest for retirement. Both were moderately well received, scoring between 5.8 and 6.3 on the USA TODAY Ad Meter.
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