Care.com Brings the Sandwich Generation Into the Spotlight
Care.com is an mobile app that makes it easier for caregivers to find care for kids, aging parents, homes and pets by making care easier to find and vetting process that includes identity and background checks. Care.com CEO shared, “As a caregiver myself, it’s hard to imagine a more meaningful mission than creating solutions to a problem that impacts millions of families every day. We envision a world where care is within reach for everyone—where care is easy to find, simple to book and gives families peace of mind.”
The caregiving app launched a high profile out-of-home ad featured in New York City last month. The ad featured a 25-foot inflatable sandwich wedged between two buildings in the Flatiron district. The viral installation was a strong visual representation of the “sandwich generation” or adults who are caregiving for both young children and aging or elderly parents.
This innovative and untraditional ad served multiple purposes. Raising awareness for the Care app, that helps find providers and caretakers not just for young children but also for Seniors. The ad didn’t just raise awareness though, but It was also launched alongside a report about the sandwich generation and a dedicated Instagram channel for the topic. Beneath the inflatable sandwich some very serious data from the report was posted: the percentages of sandwich generation caregivers who feel their own life is paused (86%), who feel invisible (87%), and who wish they asked for help sooner (84%), per Care.com.
The caregiving app took things a step even further and paired a real face with the campaign data and partnered with Whitney Port, MTV star of “The Hills” and author and designer. Port has shared the challenges of caring for both her mother and her son. Port showed up in person to interact with passers-by, some who shared their own caregiving stories. Real sandwiches were also handed out to NYC passer-bys with QR codes to scan and learn more about the Sandwich generation. While this physical ad drew attention to a caregiving group that often feels invisible in the workplace and society , it was not a one off stunt but part of a larger and ongoing campaign. The new instagram channel @wearethesandwichgen, features content tailored for the sandwich generation from humour to helpful resources. Care.com shared in the brands press release that content will be ongoing for this new resource. A special AMA (ask-me-anything) session will be hosted on With Whit, a special podcast hosted by Port to dive deeper into the results of the report and what real support might look like in addition to a live Reddit AMA hosted on August 13th. By highlighting the emotional and physical realities of caregiving while also providing resources, Care.com is addressing an issue that spans across generations and life stages. It also helps normalize conversations around asking for and receiving care, while positioning Care.com as a resource people can turn to as their caregiving needs change over time.
More importantly though the campaign also taps into a larger truth about caregiving: nearly everyone will encounter it at some point in their lives. As First Lady Rosalynn Carter famously stated, “There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.”
Written by Hannah Lacy
Bio: Hannah Lacy is a digital content strategist with over seven years of experience in marketing and social media, and more than a decade of experience as a freelance writer contributing to various publications. A working mother of two school-aged children, she writes at the intersection of ambition and parenthood, with a passion for storytelling, advocating for working moms, and partnering with mission-driven brands and organisations.
