A promise made should be a promise kept is the message behind Rhone’s "Promises to Keep" campaign.
The men’s performance and lifestyle brand’s holiday campaign shows the importance of keeping promises, to those you love, and to yourself.
The video ad opens with a father promising to read his son a story before bed, prior to setting out for a cold-weather run, with the entire video set to Robert Frost’s "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."
The idea behind the concept came from Rhone creative director Ben Checkett’s own family holiday tradition of memorizing poems for his father and reciting them on Christmas day.
"My dad only wanted one thing at Christmas: a poem. He would urge us to memorize a poem, usually of his choosing, that we would stand and deliver on Christmas Day," Becketts said. "I have very fond memories of staying up late on Christmas Eve and cramming lines of 'Hamlet’s Soliloquy' and 'The Road Not Taken' into my mind," he added.
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" takes on a literal meaning in Rhone’s ad, with each line urging the father to continue his journey through the elements in order to make it back home in time to read a book for his son (which he ultimately does).
But while the obvious promise made to his son is what drives the father towards his end goal, there is also the unspoken promise to himself to maintain his own health that also drives him.
The video’s cinematography perfectly captures the isolating yet liberating feeling of going for a run after a fresh snow in freezing temperatures at a time of the year when darkness seems perpetual and eternal.
Impressive aerial shots and crisp audio effects make you feel like you’re running through the woods yourself, all culminating in a heartwarming shot of father and son bonding over a promise kept.