Lu's idea portfolio
Sometimes crying is the best medicine
The old saying goes: “Laughter is the best medicine.” However, whilst walking down the nature-filled parks of Copenhagen, listening to emotional music and having some therapeutic tears roll down my face, I started thinking: sometimes tears are the best medicine.
Crying is an expression of pure and undisturbed emotion. Whether it’s tears of joy, sadness or laughter; crying relieves, releases and soothes the soul. So if crying is such a natural, relatable and powerful human reaction, why not showcase it instead of trying to hide it?
And what is crying without the perfect musical background to set the mood? Adele, Taylor Swift… any heartbreak song will do the job. That’s why I believe that Spotify could use crying as the centerpoint of a campaign.
Their video ad could start with a person sitting in a car’s passenger seat, gazing at the window, listening to music on their headphones. The music begins and so do the tears.
The next shot could be a group of friends in a sleepover, they are all passionately dancing and lip synching to breakup songs. Through their anger, one of the friends breaks down crying and the others rush to console her.
After, there could be an old couple’s 50th anniversary party. While the couple is slow-dancing to a classic love song, the shot shows a family member shedding a tear over the heart-warming moment.
Finally, there could be a shot of a surprise party. A person is seen entering a room full of friends and family. You can see their face full of shock and pure joy, with the background of a celebratory song. The person’s disbelief over the surprise party quickly turns into overwhelmingly happy tears.
The video ad would finish with a black screen and the following copy: “Sometimes crying is your best medicine.”
Another option could be doing a compilation of emotional, tear-triggering moments in pop culture —like the military reunited with their family, a romantic movie’s main characters finally admitting their love for each other or a couple’s revealing that they are expecting a baby to their friends and family— with a heartfelt song playing in the background. The closure would be the same: a black screen and the end copy: “sometimes crying is your best medicine.”
To reinforce the video part of the campaign, I would add posters along the streets saying funny, relatable phrases about crying. This would imitate Spotify’s past campaign, where they amicably made fun of their subscribers through witty copy, but add a new spin to it.
Examples of this would include: “When she leaves you and you can finally understand the whole craze surrounding Taylor Swift #sometimescryingisthebestmedicine” or “When you are bored in the back of the car and decide to invent a dramatic made-up storyline to accompany your sad playlist #sometimescryingisthebestmedicine”
