In one of the most frightening winters in recent memory, when coronavirus is killing thousands, and millions of children are barred from their classrooms, struggling for enough internet to learn, Campbell鈥檚 Soup made a decision. It would fight, in its cozy way, for kids鈥� right to take a day off.
But the iconic food company鈥檚 鈥淪ave the Snow Day鈥� campaign, launched this month, isn鈥檛 finding a universally warm-and-fuzzy reception with its intended audiences: parents, and the K-12 leaders who make snow-day decisions.
鈥淪taying home behind a bowl of soup with your kids, the parents in my most struggling schools would think that sounds m鈥檓 m鈥檓 good. But the reality is, most of our parents are essential workers. They can鈥檛 just take the day off,鈥� said Sonya Thomas, the executive director of Nashville PROPEL, a group that teaches parents in low-income neighborhoods how to advocate for better schools.
鈥淣ice try, but protecting snow days is not even close to the top of our priority list right now,鈥� said Michael Casserly, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, which represents 76 of the country鈥檚 largest urban school systems. He鈥檇 much rather see big corporations help districts get universal high-speed broadband so teachers can consistently reach their students.
Staking out its snow-day turf, in fact, puts Campbell鈥檚 at odds with many of the districts whose cafeterias stock its Goldfish, V-8, and tomato soup. In a recent national survey of principals and district leaders by the EdWeek Research Center, 39 percent said they鈥檇 already switched snow days to remote instruction days because of COVID-19. Another 32 percent said they were considering making that switch.
Even before the pandemic, more states had begun letting districts convert bad-weather days to distance-learning days so they can avoid extending the school year. But coronavirus has put superintendents under added pressure to maximize instructional time because many kids are falling behind or not signing on for class.
鈥淪uperintendents and parents are worried about learning loss. The last thing they need this year, of all years, is to cancel a day of school because of snow,鈥� said Daniel Domenech, who leads AASA, The School Superintendents Association.
Snow Days: A Cherished Tradition? Or a Disappearing One?
Campbell鈥檚 begs to disagree. Its marketing team imagines a snow day not just as a cherished tradition, but an important soul-charger for students and parents slumped in front of computer screens.
On a in its red-and-white color scheme, the company urges parents to sign a pledge to protect 鈥渢he most magical of winter birthrights: the snow day.鈥� The site features a one-minute video of happy children frolicking in the snow, and eating chicken noodle soup, narrated by a child who laments that snow days are 鈥渦nder threat鈥� from remote learning.
The message resonated for many parents. Only 24 hours after the campaign launched on Dec. 2, 3,000 people had made the snow-day pledge, which means Campbell鈥檚 will mail them 鈥渟now day activity kits鈥� that include scarves, mittens and hats, snowman-building supplies, and special-edition cans of chicken noodle soup with labels showing a snowman wrapped in a red scarf, an image that echoes a Campbell鈥檚 ad from 1993. In less than a week, pledge-signings were pushing 10,000.
In one snow-day-crazed corner of New Jersey, you could practically hear the cheering. Leaders of the Mahwah school district became a national sensation in October when they declared they鈥檇 protect snow days as no-school days. And Campbell鈥檚 burnished their poster-child status by pointing to Mahwah鈥檚 declaration in emailed reach-outs to reporters. That took the Mahwah team by surprise, but they loved it.
鈥淪now days are a longstanding tradition. And it鈥檚 one way we can ensure that for one day, kids aren鈥檛 worried about COVID exposure and can just be kids again,鈥� said Lisa Rizzo, the district鈥檚 director of special services, who bakes cookies with her 4th grader on every snow day.
Feelings like that were what led the Campbell Soup Company to the new campaign. As winter approached, its marketing team had wondered how it might reimagine the snowman image that鈥檚 long been a centerpiece of Campbell鈥檚 holiday advertising, said Linda Lee, its chief of marketing. Monitoring news and social media, the team noticed parents鈥� reactions when districts did away with snow days. The company saw an opportunity.
鈥淲e all have such warm memories of those snow days,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e wondered, what can we do to make sure kids, parents, and even adults with no kids enjoy that?鈥�
Ad Age, a longtime media outlet covering advertising, called Campbell鈥檚 new campaign a 鈥渕arketing stunt鈥� but a creative one鈥� because it 鈥淸puts] Campbell鈥檚 on the side of kids鈥攏ot a bad place to be for the maker of winter-friendly meals like soup.鈥�
In the Pandemic, Nostalgia Has Power
It鈥檚 the power of nostalgia that Campbell鈥檚 is banking on, said Clay Routledge, a behavioral scientist at North Dakota State University. Routledge has studied nostalgia and found that its tug is strongest when people are under stress. We use nostalgia to stabilize ourselves in hard times. (The transports viewers to pre-pandemic days, when children could build snowmen and then enjoy hot soup together without masks or social distancing.)
But 鈥淪ave the Snow Day鈥� risks alienating many parents who might feel that it鈥檚 sharply out of touch with their daily reality, said Nancy Harhut, the chief creative officer at HBT Marketing, which draws on behavioral science to help clients such as H&R Block and the Four Seasons Hotel chain design effective campaigns.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l have some parents who think snow days are sacred, and think so much has been taken from their kids now, and maybe it resonates with them,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut others might say, 鈥榓re you kidding me? I need to do anything I can to make sure my kid gets more education right now, not less.鈥� It could be polarizing.鈥�
Unexpected Days Off Create Hardship for Many Parents
Dennisha Rivers, in Louisville, Ky., is all for a real snow day with her three sons. She鈥檚 starting a nonprofit to support homeless people, but she鈥檚 working from home, and could make time between phone calls for some family bonding time.
鈥淚n this pandemic, we鈥檝e had a chance to sit back and reflect on what鈥檚 important,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always on the go. We鈥檝e lost friends and loved ones. Taking time out as a family, that鈥檚 a value I鈥檇 like to instill in my household.鈥�
LaSheryl Jackson doesn鈥檛 have that choice. She has to take her two children to a relative鈥檚 home at 6 a.m. most days so she can manage a Starbuck鈥檚 on a university campus in Nashville. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 just take a day off because they鈥檙e not in school,鈥� she said.
Keri Rodrigues loves the idea of cancelling school when snow piles up. She and other parents she knows in Somerville, Mass., have had to 鈥渃all our own snow days鈥� during the pandemic just to ease the emotional stress of juggling work and children鈥檚 studies. 鈥淲e are tapped out,鈥� she said.
But old-fashioned snow days shouldn鈥檛 be an option for just some parents, she said. Employers and government need to adopt family-friendly policies that give working parents flexibility, said Rodrigues, the founder and president of the National Parents Union, which advocates for working-class parents. She called on the K-12 sector to 鈥渃hallenge the idea that we need every instructional minute in every day鈥� because of school calendars that put time parameters around learning.
For Robert Malay, snow days are about one thing and one thing only: providing his families with a small bit of certainty in a year defined by upheaval. He鈥檚 the superintendent of seven school districts in New Hampshire. In those schools, students will keep learning from home on snow days for one reason: so the school year can end on time.
鈥淔olks have had to make a lot of sacrifices,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know when the end of the pandemic will be. But at least we can give them this. We can tell them when the end of the school year will be.鈥�
