Dive Brief:

• Orbit has created a "Parent Sitter Pack" to help ease dating for millennials who have moved back home with their parents, per a press release. The effort seeks to "babysit" parents so they will stay out of the love lives of their adult children.
• The Parent Sitter Pack comes with an online cooking class, a plant delivery service and a subscription to a TV streaming service. Through Nov. 2, the brand will ask consumers to share why they need a Parent Sitter Pack on Twitter using #Sweepstakes and #OrbitParentSitter.
• The effort is part of the Mars gum band's Keep It Clean campaign, which aims to help people date online. The playful sweepstakes toys with the pandemic's effect on dating for the millions of millennials who have moved back home due to travel restrictions, workplace flexibility or financial issues.

Dive Insight:

Orbit's campaign acknowledges the complexities of dating during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for the millions of millennials who are moving back in with their parents due to the pandemic-induced recession. With all the stressors 2020 has brought, the company wants to make dating fun and remind people of the importance of making a good first impression with fresh breath, Sally Tran, senior brand manager of Orbit Gum, said in a statement.

The campaign also recognizes the changing behaviors brought on by the pandemic. Homebound consumers are cooking more, buying more plants and watching more programming via streaming services. The plant delivery service gives parents something to take care of — other than their grown child — while the streaming subscription recognizes parents' need to "binge-watch and chill," per the press release.

The Parent Sitter Pack is an extension of the brand's broader dating-focused campaign, Keep It Clean. Along with releasing ad spots starring Chris Parnell, Orbit teamed up with Tinder to create a chatbot to assist singles with responding to risqué messages on the app. The Parent Sitter Pack continues to take a playful approach to advertising around dating during the pandemic.

Orbit's Keep It Clean campaign follows other efforts by brands looking to bring experiential activations to the home, as the pandemic continues to curtail regular experiential activities. Bud Light Seltzer this year shifted gears from a campaign encouraging house parties to a safer approach offering at-home trials of the new product. Brands including Hostess and Apothic Wine have released content around at-home Halloween celebrations, while Babe Wine sold "Election Night Survival Kits" to help voters cope with stress.