The world record egg, the brown ovum that won Instagram, finally revealed its purpose on Super Bowl Sunday: And it’s totally heartwarming.
The egg, which has gathered more than 52 million likes on Instagram since Jan. 4, was initially posted in an attempt to garner more hearts than Kylie Jenner’s first baby photo, which has 18 million likes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsOGulcndj-/
Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, the New York Times revealed the creator of the egg to be Chris Godfrey, a 29-year-old advertising man from London, and two of his friends. “An egg has no gender, race or religion. An egg is an egg, it’s universal,” Godfrey said. And it now stars in a commercial produced with Hulu in support of the nonprofit Mental Health America.
The egg, which fans and its creators call Eugene, is shown cracking and collapsing. “The pressure of social media is getting to me,” the egg says in the ad. “If you’re struggling, too, talk to someone.” The website for Mental Health America then appears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSY8z3E0dy0
Experts had estimated the first brand to crack the egg’s market might pay as much as $10 million for the exposure. Nik Sharma of digital agency VaynerMedia told The Atlantic he would even advise clients “to spend on the egg instead of the Super Bowl.”
It remains unclear how much money, if any, Hulu paid the egg — although The New York Times reported the egg team as being paid an undisclosed amount by Hulu, and that Nick Tran, Hulu’s vice president of brand marketing and culture, pursued the egg. The cost of a 30-second ad spot during the Super Bowl this year was $5.25 million.
The egg creators, however, say that mental health is just the first cause the egg will stand up for. “It’s not really about me,” Godfrey said. “It’s just about the egg and sort of where we can take it and what we can do with it.”
