The Rising

Read the campaign story

Indeed’s The Rising appeared in the February 2021 Super Bowl campaign period, with 72andSunny credited as agency. The film showed people looking for work during the pandemic. Its soundtrack featured Christian Shelton performing a cover of Rise Up. Contemporary coverage identifies Shelton as the singer; attributing the performance simply to Andra Day would confuse the original song association with the recording used in the advertisement.

The work placed emotional weight on the process of searching rather than showing only the moment somebody secures a role. The opened creative archive verifies the release period and agency, while contemporary reporting describes the job-search scenes and musical performance. These sources document an advertising execution. They do not establish that viewers found jobs because of it, or that the platform could determine the eventual decisions made by employers.

Editorial interpretation: a service can show understanding by acknowledging the part of a journey that is usually edited out. Waiting, revising and trying again may be more recognisable to an audience than a polished success story. That recognition can make the brand’s offer easier to hear. The important distinction is between accompanying someone through a difficult task and implying that an emotional connection gives the brand control over what happens next.

Editorial interpretation: hopeful communication needs a practical destination. A viewer who feels encouraged may still need help making a next step manageable. A useful adaptation would connect the emotional message to a clearly explained tool, a relevant resource or a realistic action. It should also avoid presenting unemployment as a personal failure that can be overcome by attitude alone. Structural barriers and individual circumstances do not disappear because an advertisement uses uplifting music.

Research the moments between visible milestones

Ask people which parts of the process consume effort but rarely appear in promotional stories. Use voluntary, carefully scoped interviews and avoid making access to support conditional on disclosure. The goal is to understand the task, not collect the most distressing material. Represent ordinary uncertainty with dignity rather than turning someone’s difficulty into an emotional device for the advertiser.

Give hope a bounded service promise

State what the service can help a person do, such as organise information or locate relevant options. Keep that claim separate from outcomes controlled by others. Review copy for implied guarantees, especially when the audience is under financial or emotional pressure. A modest, accurate promise can build trust more sustainably than a sweeping assurance that everything will work out.

Credit creative contributors accurately

Music carries meaning, so distinguish the composition, the original recording and the performance actually used. Obtain the appropriate permissions for every version and format before reuse. Do not assume a popular song is interchangeable with a particular singer’s voice or that a short excerpt needs no clearance. For a small pilot, original or properly licensed audio may be the clearest option.

A small test for another brief

Proposed test: a career-support organisation could pair a short, respectful process-focused story with one practical resource that helps users prepare for a next step, without promising a job.

Measure whether users understand the resource, feel able to take the next step and know what the service cannot promise. Track actual resource completion separately from emotional ratings and later employment outcomes.

Stop if the story increases shame, suggests that optimism alone determines employment, or uses a participant’s circumstances beyond the consent they gave.

• Ask advisers and volunteer users to review the story for accuracy and dignity.
• Provide the same resource beside an emotional and a straightforward introduction.
• Use licensed audio or no soundtrack, and make captions available.