That line was especially important given the subject matter. “We’re not trying to minimize anything; we just want it all to feel relatable,” Rose added. “Any time it starts to feel like you’re making fun of someone, it’s way off the tracks.”
Most of the spots feature professional actors, apart from the auctioneers. The team realized that no actor could convincingly replicate the rapid-fire cadence of a true bid-caller, so they cast World Livestock Auctioneer Champion Dean Edge to bring authenticity to the role.
“We were thinking, ‘who talks a lot, but never really feels heard?’” said Rose. “The most absurd version of it was the cattle auctioneer. So that kind of wrote itself, but we also loved that it just felt really destigmatizing.”
Beyond the novelty, he added, the scene also felt quietly subversive: “At a surface level, these might not be the two guys you’d historically expect to be sitting in a stadium talking about mental health.”
The commercials will run across national linear and streaming TV, with two debuting this week and the remaining ads rolling out later in the year. The 72andSunny team is also developing an accompanying audio campaign, featuring new plotlines built around the same insight.
