• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 9, 2014

Just in time for Father’s Day (and the Cannes Lions festival) WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather Singapore has created an emotional short film about moms for client Unilever’s Comfort brand fabric softener.

The piece interweaves two stories about mothers as they anxiously prepare to visit sons they haven’t seen in a long time -- one is a criminal behind bars and the other is an astronaut.

The premise of the film, explained at the end, is that “there are no good or bad mothers, as long as there is love.”

The film tugs at the heartstrings from beginning to end with slow-tempo folksy music and teary-eyed moms talking about the strains of motherhood, how they tried to raise their sons the right way, and what in hindsight they wished they had done differently.

The film features real people and real families, not actors. What the film doesn’t show is which man is the son of which mother.

“We chose a prisoner and an astronaut to illustrate the dramatic contrast between two sons whose paths in life have taken them to very different places,” said Eugene Cheong, chief creative officer, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific. “What unites them is the time they must spend away from their families. Despite their sons’ disparate circumstances, both mothers share the same doubts and believe they could have done things better.”

By making it unclear which son is whose, the film’s intent is to reinforce “the message that what matters in the end is the love mums give,” said Cheong.

“What we set out to do with this film is to take a moment to remind all mums -- and society as a whole really -- that in the end, it’s the little everyday things that mothers do to express their love that matter more than trying to reach perfection.”  

Like adding a little fabric softener to wash load on laundry day. The film can be seen here .