I absolutely love ad campaigns—like this OREO cookie video—that create a feeling of good will.

Back story: I grew up eating OREO cookies (and Salerno butter cookies and countless girl scout cookies…) when I lived in the U.S. And I was very happy when I moved to Sweden two years ago and found OREOs at the local grocery store. It wasn’t until I became an expat that I realized certain foods, like OREO cookies, created a nostalgic bond. A comforting memory. An actual feeling. In this case the memory revolved around that creamy white center. It was such a prize that I would spend (what felt like) hours inventing new ways of savoring it.

There was the scrape-it-away-with-your-bottom-teeth technique, the twist-and-pull technique which, when done correctly, left all of the cream on one side. Then for those impatient days, there was the pop-the-whole-thing-in-your-mouth technique: a kind of Sieze The Day approach. I still eat them in the same ways I did as a child and I have handed down my techniques to my daughter, who now has some of her own.

Food products that have been around for a while (in this case, over 100 years) have the dual task of appealing to older generations like mine and capturing a new, younger audience. The Martin Agency did a great job of tapping into the timeless feeling of childlike wonder, opportunity and a feeling of “what if?”

It’s easy to be a copywriter and get cynical of others’ work or even your own. It’s a competitive business and one of the ways we assert our own intelligence is by putting down others’ efforts. We find reasons to be wry, overly clever or downright mean. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can all compete with ourselves to find the next great idea or product name or headline.

I’ll always appreciate talented folks out there who are able to look at something old and familiar, and make it fun and joyful again.

Mmmm, OREOs….