• by Larissa Faw , May 15, 2018

Whirlpool's new "Congrats, Parents" campaign recognizes caregivers, not high-school students, during graduation season. 

Developed with Digitas and Ketchum, the campaign is designed to acknowledge what 18 years of labor entails to raise a child, specifically:  7,488 loads of laundry, 2,700 loads of dishes and 19,710 meals, all preferably done with Whirlpool machines. 

The spot opens with the standard graduation scene, but instead of speaking about the student's accomplishments, the speaker instead honors caregivers for the acts they provided "day in and day out."

The campaign includes online video appearing across Whirlpool’s social channels, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Whirlpool.com, and Everydaycare.com as well as email messaging and a content series with Upworthy.  

Whirlpool is also honoring parents and caregivers at five U.S. schools where select individuals will receive the “Care Cum Laude” honor, based on submissions from students, teachers and school staff. 

"Because of the care it represents, every parent’s story of cooking, washing and cleaning will be different and the honorees will be celebrated by their local communities," says an agency spokesperson.

In addition, during the graduation ceremony, students will adorn their caps with personalized thank you messages to the parents and caregivers in their lives. 

Actress/singer Lea Michele is set to surprise one of these schools as the commencement speaker.