Bobo's: The Bar Your Mom Would Make - Date Night

Advertising agency and brand production studio Humanaut has created its first national campaign for Bobo’s, a brand known for its delicious, nourishing and comforting baked goods made from simple ingredients. The pitch? “The bar your mom would bake—without her actually having to be there.”

Humanaut created a :30 hero spot, three :15s, three :06s, and five static ads. It’s the agency’s first campaign for the client after winning the account in October 2022. The campaign’s videos and static ads will begin targeting audiences on paid social media (Instagram/Facebook), CTV (Tradedesk), and YouTube in early April. Based on Bobo’s audience analysis, 75% of the spot’s media spend will be allocated to the Atlanta area and the remainder to Austin, Texas.

The comedic ads explore what the world might look like if people’s actual mothers—in all their mom-hood glory—showed up in the daily lives of their children with delicious Bobo’s oat bars and other baked goods when their kids had a craving. These oversized personalities pop up at schools, at work, and even on a date. The point is to show why grabbing a Bobo’s bar is a more-convenient and less-awkward way to enjoy that home-baked taste people love than having a visit from a mother who smothers.

“When people bite into a Bobo’s Bar, we want them to be reminded of the home-baked taste their mom makes,” said David Littlejohn, Humanaut’s founder and chief creative officer.
“But we also wanted to acknowledge that people’s relationship with their mother is a little complicated, which led to some real comedic moments.”

Bobo’s is a business started by a mother and daughter in their home 20 years ago. Today, they use the same core ingredients, still bake in pans, and aim to keep families happy, healthy, nourished, and smiling all day. The Humanaut work is the brand’s first awareness campaign intended to disrupt the nutrition and cereal bar category and drive household penetration. Still, it maintains Bobo’s positioning, mission, and reason to buy.

“We came to the Humanaut team looking to clearly define ourselves to consumers for the next stage of growth,” said Henry Hughes, Bobo’s EVP of Marketing. “The team did an exceptional job staying true to our mother-daughter roots while bringing the campaign to life with creative that’s fun, engaging, and culturally relevant.”

The central ad scenario has one mom surprising a young couple as they watch TV on a date. When the guy asks if there’s anything to eat, mom startles them by springing up from behind the couch holding a baking sheet full of Bobo’s. In the 30-second hero spot, helpful, doting moms cramp the style of their kids at the workplace and in the classroom, too. In addition to the treats, moms are happy to embarrass their kids in public settings with such lines as, “Hey, Pookie Bear! I put some extra undies in your backpack” and “You know how you get a little hangry.”