Wash Watch: NBC,Tide Join For Sundays NFL (Not For Laundry) Campaign
Monday, September 9, 2019 at 12:20PM By Barry Janoff
September 9, 2019: The NFL wants to own Sunday, and that means no other distractions — including doing the laundry.
The NFL has teamed up with partner Procter & Gamble’s Tide and NBC to declare, "Sunday’s Are NFL: Not For Laundry.”
Or Monday night, either, so as not to interfere with Monday Night Football (on ESPN, but not mentioned in the campaign).
Or even Thursdays, with Thursday Night Football (on Fox and NFL Network, also not mentioned in the campaign).
“Tuesdays are for laundry,” declares former All-Pro quarterback Peyton Manning in a new Tide spot that broke during NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
But hold on. Singer Gwen Stefani in follow-up spot begs to differ: “Tuesday nights are for watching The Voice,” on NBC, on which she is a host.
And the laundry days get even slimmer when characters from NBC’s Superstore, which airs on Thursday nights, say they don’t want washing-and-drying to interfere with their show.
The campaign carries over to digital and social media (#LaundryNight) and is expected to evolve with new creative during the season.
Tide also had a unique NFL blitz during Super Bowl LII in 2018, with several spots seeming to promote various other products — Old Spice, Mr. Clean, Budweiser, Lincoln, life insurance, muscle enhancers — but each quickly turning into a Tide commercial.
In his spot, “Tuesdays The Official Laundry Night,” Manning breaks the fourth wall as he speaks during a faux media conference, first to the audience in the room, and then directly to a guy at home doing his laundry.
“It happens every Sunday. Your favorite player makes an amazing play . . ." at which point JuJu Smith-Schuster makes an amazing play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and says, “And you missed it because you’re doing laundry!?”
“I was doing laundry,” a guy doing laundry replies to the screen.
“Don’t worry,” says Manning. “The NFL has teamed up with Tide to make Tuesday the official laundry night. Sundays are now 100% NFL: Not For Laundry.”
Gwen Stefani follows with her spot, “Laundry Night Is Sunday, The Voice Is On Tuesday." It starts as a promo for The Voice, but is interrupted by Stafani.
“Did the NFL just try to declare Tuesday Laundry Night? The Voice is on Tuesday. Sunday is for laundry.”
The issue becomes even more muddled in “Superstore Dina And Glen,” who respond to the first two spots.
“So the NFL doesn’t want people doing their laundry during Sunday Night Football,” says Dina (Lauren Ash), who was watching the Manning Tide spot on a big-screen TV in Cloud 9 store No. 1217.
“That’s when everyone does it,” says Glenn (Mark McKinney) “When else would you do it?”
Sunday is the time when most people do their laundry, according to P&G.
“When our show is on?” wonders Dina. She then heads to the store’s PA system.
“Attention shoppers: The NFL thinks it’s better than us. Stock up on Tide. We wouldn’t want you to miss doing your laundry on Sundays.”
She then implies there is more to come: “This isn’t over, Manning,” she says.