Evian: Roller Babies
Evian tasked BETC Paris with refreshing its brand image, aiming to resonate with a younger, global audience. The client wanted to position Evian as a youthful, energetic brand, moving beyond its traditional perception. The core challenge was to create a highly memorable and shareable campaign that would embody the brand's "Live Young" philosophy and significantly boost global engagement.
Creative Idea
Evian created a video of babies performing impressive roller skating moves.
Evian created a viral marketing campaign featuring babies performing impressive roller skating moves, using the power of cuteness and unexpected humor to capture viewers' attention. The campaign aimed to position Evian as a youthful, energetic brand by showing babies skating with incredible skill, which made the video memorable and shareable across global audiences.
The World Record Viral That Tanked Sales
134 Babies and a Melbourne Backdrop
To achieve the uncanny realism of the skating infants, director Michael Gracey - who later helmed *The Greatest Showman* - orchestrated a complex hybrid production. The team filmed 134 real babies at Pinewood Studios to capture authentic facial expressions, while the background plates were shot thousands of miles away in Melbourne, Australia. The babies' bodies were entirely digital, created by MPC using Autodesk Maya. To ensure the skating looked professional rather than clumsy, VFX artists used motion-capture data from adult dancers and skaters to drive the CG models.
The Digital First Gamble
In 2009, prioritizing the internet over television was a radical move. Evian lacked the budget for a global TV buy, so BETC Paris utilized a "leaked" teaser strategy, releasing clips like *Baby Moonwalk* to blogs two weeks early. The gamble paid off when the ad became the Guinness World Record holder for the most viewed online advertisement, surpassing 100 million views by 2011. The "Live Young" message even moved into fashion, with "Baby Inside" t-shirts becoming a viral retail trend.
A Cautionary Tale of Conversion
Despite the massive cultural footprint and being named Time Magazine’s #1 Ad of 2009, the campaign is often studied for its "viral paradox." During the year the video exploded, Evian’s sales dropped 25%. Analysts point to a disconnect between the "cute" entertainment and the brand's premium pricing during a global recession. While it successfully revitalized the "Baby Saga" motif from 1998, it remains a primary industry example of how high engagement does not always translate to immediate market share.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Evian leverages its 'Live Young' brand platform, rooted in the mineral purity of the French Alps, to position water as a source of cellular-level rejuvenation.
Category
The bottled water category historically relied on clinical purity claims and static mountain imagery, lacking emotional resonance or a distinct lifestyle identity for consumers.
Customer
Consumers crave a sense of effortless vitality and playfulness to escape the mundane, looking for products that promise a feeling of internal and external youth.
Culture
The emerging viral video era of the late 2000s rewarded high-concept, visually surprising content that used 'cuteness' and humor to transcend language and cultural barriers.
Company
Evian leverages its 'Live Young' brand platform, rooted in the mineral purity of the French Alps, to position water as a source of cellular-level rejuvenation.
Category
The bottled water category historically relied on clinical purity claims and static mountain imagery, lacking emotional resonance or a distinct lifestyle identity for consumers.
Strategy:
Dramatize the Live Young promise through CGI babies to transform functional hydration into a symbol of infectious, youthful vitality.
Customer
Consumers crave a sense of effortless vitality and playfulness to escape the mundane, looking for products that promise a feeling of internal and external youth.
Culture
The emerging viral video era of the late 2000s rewarded high-concept, visually surprising content that used 'cuteness' and humor to transcend language and cultural barriers.
Strategy:
Dramatize the Live Young promise through CGI babies to transform functional hydration into a symbol of infectious, youthful vitality.
Strategy Technique
Exaggerate to Reveal the Truth
The campaign exaggerated youth and vitality through skilled roller-skating babies. This amplified the 'Live Young' philosophy, making the brand's energetic message unforgettable.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Reverse Expectations
The campaign subverted expectations by showing babies performing complex roller skating moves. This unexpected visual created surprise and humor, making the ad highly memorable and shareable.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional primarily due to its innovative and flawlessly executed visual effects, combined with brilliant casting and art direction, which together create a surprisingly believable and delightful spectacle.
The seamless integration of realistic babies performing complex, synchronized dance and skate moves is a technical marvel, making the unbelievable believable and central to the ad's charm.
The selection of babies with distinct, expressive personalities who 'perform' their roles with natural charisma significantly enhances the ad's comedic and endearing qualities.
The iconic 'Rapper's Delight' is perfectly chosen, instantly recognizable and provides a driving, energetic rhythm that is perfectly synced with the babies' movements, elevating the entire experience.
The editing maintains a crisp, dynamic pace that keeps the energy high, skillfully cutting between different dance formations and baby expressions to maximize impact and humor.
The magic of this campaign truly comes from the synergy between the groundbreaking visual effects that bring the dancing babies to life, the perfect choice of an iconic hip-hop track, and the delightful art direction and casting that collectively create an unforgettable and joyous brand experience.
