Lift Like a Mother****** campaign
An Australian wellness brand, Franjos Kitchen, is challenging how women, especially mothers are typically portrayed in advertising with a striking new campaign via Willow and Blake. The campaign is built around the idea that mothers may be some of the world's most accomplished endurance athletes, per Campaign Brief. The Co-founder and CMO of Franjos Kitchen Kate Howard shared, “We didn’t start with a brief or a trend report. We started with a feeling. Every conversation we were having internally kept coming back to the same thing: mums are carrying an extraordinary load emotionally, physically and mentally every single day and society still doesn’t fully recognise it. We wanted to create something that felt less like an advertisement and more like a rallying cry,” per Campaign Brief. Howard shared that the brand has always supported mothers, but language has become softened around mothers and maternal health. Most mothers have likely experienced this disparity of what they face in their daily lives and how mothers are portrayed in media and society.
The campaign was built around the idea of strength, resilience, and endurance. A key research insight that inspired the campaign visuals and tagline is the extraordinary strength and demands placed on mother during the early years of parenting. A newborn baby is lifted by their mother an average of 50 times a day, this is during recovery from pregnancy and childbirth, with little to no sleep and managing a household and family. Registered midwife and CEO Aliza Carr shared, “That’s progressive overload every single day. No rest days, no recovery blocks and no one standing on the sidelines cheering you on. Mothers continue showing up day after day because that’s what they do - They lift.” Carr added that the hero line for this campaign challenges the language historically used to diminish female strength- think phrases like “throw like a girl” or “fight like a girl” as a criticism of feminine strength. “Lift Like a Mother’ says the opposite. The standard of physical and emotional performance mothers sustain every day would stop most people in their tracks,” Carr shared per Campaign Brief.
Though there have been broader shifts to more towards authenticity for brands marketing to women and families, Franjos Kitchen still sees motherhood as a category filtered through unrealistic expectations. Howard shared with campaign brief, “We all have a mother, yet we still underestimate the work mothers do. Our hope is that women see this campaign and feel recognised. Not the polished version of themselves. The real version. The one who hasn’t slept properly. The one carrying everyone else’s needs before her own. The one who keeps showing up regardless.”Visually the campaign depicts bold imagery showing how mothers are capable and powerful and was informed by mother and advocate Daniel Mitchell, who has experience with traumatic birth recovery, mental health challenges, and navigating severe hypermesis gravidarum.
Beyond being a powerful creative platform, the brand is also making a powerful statement for their next chapter. CEO Carr said, “This isn’t really about products. It’s about recognition. It’s about creating a moment where mothers feel understood. Because what they’re doing every day is extraordinary”. Many brands have celebrated the role of mothers with creative campaigns. Franjos Kitchen reframed motherhood through the lens of athleticism and endurance, which have historically been respected, unlike the role of mothers. If society celebrates someone training seven days a week, lifting weights, sacrificing sleep and pushing through discomfort, why isn't that same admiration extended to someone recovering from childbirth while lifting a newborn dozens of times a day, managing a household, and carrying the emotional load of a family? The campaign makes invisible labor visible through language and creative imagery.
As a mother with lived experience and a marketing perspective, Life Like a Mother ****** is a successful campaign because the conversation focuses on recognition of what is hard and heavy, not a romanticised or idealised version of motherhood. The campaign doesn’t ask mothers to aspire to something else, rather, it validates the weight they carry every day, literally and mentally.
Mothers demonstrate endurance every day outside of gyms and stadiums - in homes, nurseries, doctor’s offices, parks, grocery stores and many ordinary places that don’t receive awards or recognition. As more brands seek to connect with women and families through authentic storytelling, campaigns like this show that the most meaningful messages don't simply celebrate mothers; they recognize the invisible labor, resilience, and humanity that have always been there.
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.
