Being a new parent isn’t easy but thankfully, there’s an overabundance of tips and advice readily available on the Internet for how to handle those difficult moments. The problem is that none of them are right. As recent new parents (of different children), writers Adam Schwartz and Mary Patterson Broome can vouch that what worked for one person’s baby isn’t guaranteed to work for yours and that anyone claiming to know the secret to a happy, calm baby is just rubbing their success in your face. In this video, we aimed to take a fun jab at all of those parenting advice videos to demonstrate the realities of raising a newborn and validate all of those new parents who struggled through colic-y babies and sleepless nights.
Our goal was to create a parody of a parenting advice video one might find on YouTube, and we thought, who better to embody the harried parents than popular It’s a Southern Thing characters Kevin and Diana Isbell (played by Adam Schwartz and Talia Lin). In it, Kevin and Diana confidently address the viewer and outline their five tips for calming a fussy baby. The juxtaposition of their confidence with the fact that nothing seems to be working is the basis for the comedy. We wanted to depict real-life techniques with real-life results. The challenge here was making sure that our over-the-top scenarios were relatable while also making sure that we didn’t cross any lines and depict mistreatment. We introduce a real baby in the beginning (Adam’s real-life son, Benny), but transition to a doll for the rest of the video, so rest assured, no babies were harmed in the making of this video.
This video performed very well with high engagement on both Facebook and YouTube. At the time of this writing, on Facebook, the video has over 700K views and over 12K reactions. On YouTube, the video has over 200K views and over 11K likes. In addition to stats, we were overwhelmed with over 1500 comments validating the accuracy of the video. Many new parents chimed in to say that they “felt seen” and others commended the video for its spot-on commentary.Some select examples are:
“This is the best, funniest, most relatable parenting video I may have ever watched.” -@chameleonsandcaramel5979
“As a postpartum nurse and mother of 3, I whole heartedly support this video…lol” -@jenniferlundquist9475
“That was precious!! So true and although it was done in jest, it was so truthful. The end was hilarious… I raised 3 and babysat a few grandkids. The stress, the exhaustion are so real. But I lived through it. Lol. Enjoy them when they’re babies!! At least you know what they’re up to.” -@lindacarlson6887
“So accurate! Finally a relatable video that isn’t “Just put them down for a nap when tired. Leave them drowsy but awake…” lol” -@brittneys3074
