A wave of Y2K nostalgia defines the latest campaign from Bubly, celebrating the launch of its Melted Ice Pop sparkling water flavor. The effort channels the spirit of 2000s summer daydreams by pairing millennial heartthrob Chad Michael Murray with Y2K pop-culture content creator Erin Miller.
Set to the 2005 track “Dirty Little Secret” by The All-American Rejects, the :90 social spot reimagines classic rom-com tropes to mirror the cherry, lime, and raspberry blend of traditional summer freezer pops.
Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the Spot among U.S. women over 35.
The Details:
- As would be expected, the Y2K nostalgia in Bubly’s 1:25 “Melting for You” landed successfully with American women over the age of 35, but the appeal was specific to those audience segments:
Among Females 36+:
- “Melting for You” delivered above-norm performance vs. the bottled water one-year norm among U.S. women over the age of 35, and sparked a very broad range of positive emotional reactions (and a few less positive):
- Overall response came in +38 pts over the category benchmark, as measured by Ace Score. The characters were the source of the fun for this audience segment, with the music also helping to deliver the Nostalgic and Quirky narrative. Both stood apart from other bottled water ads as reflected in Single Best Thing ratings, with the characters doing so at more than twice the rate.
- The spot delivered a good breakthrough, with Attention and Change the ad’s strongest creative components (placing in the 72nd and 63rd percentiles, respectively).
- Desire (+33 pts) was also a strength within F36+, indicating the daydream format kept this audience watching and created some product want beyond simply entertaining them. In fact, an above-benchmark 46% professed increased intent after a single view (+4 pts). However, Information was perceived to be below average, suggesting the news on the new flavor might have been a bit overwhelmed by the execution.
- The ad served as an excellent brand reminder and built positive brand affinity (the primary goals), with 85% easily recalling Bubly after a single view (unaided), to smash the normative category recall of 68% (+17 pts).
- Overall response came in +38 pts over the category benchmark, as measured by Ace Score. The characters were the source of the fun for this audience segment, with the music also helping to deliver the Nostalgic and Quirky narrative. Both stood apart from other bottled water ads as reflected in Single Best Thing ratings, with the characters doing so at more than twice the rate.
- When indexed to other bottled water ads recently released (04/ 17/26-07/16/26) that the F36+ audience responded to at above-norm rates, “Melting for You” resonated by a narrower margin than every other winning spot in the set:
- Bubly’s 46% Top 2 Box intent was matched by Poland Spring (46%) and outpaced only Sparkling ICE’s “Help Me Choose” (44%) — every other above-norm ad in the set converted attention into stronger intent, led by Smart Water (Jennifer Aniston) and Arrowhead’s “Still One Ingredient” (both 57%).
- However, the competitive ads were not representing a single flavor, nor were they longer-form content. In fact, all were :15 spots other than Poland Spring ad (:30).
- The longer running “Melting for You” did not deliver more superior engagement nor consumer persuasion within the core target audience, suggesting a shorter form might be in order for both better viewer experience and better business results.
- Bubly’s 46% Top 2 Box intent was matched by Poland Spring (46%) and outpaced only Sparkling ICE’s “Help Me Choose” (44%) — every other above-norm ad in the set converted attention into stronger intent, led by Smart Water (Jennifer Aniston) and Arrowhead’s “Still One Ingredient” (both 57%).
- The Surreal but entertaining video ad’s success was driven primarily by attention and entertainment rather than product communication:
- As such, media investment against F36+ is justified, though creative refinement could unlock a stronger commercial outcome. Non-skippable media is recommended to ensure full viewing.
- Sentiment among women over 35 on “Melting for You” confirms that the ad leveraged nostalgia and celebrity appeal to create an entertaining spot that resonated with the core demographic.
- Chad Michael Murray’s casting was the ad’s most powerful asset, particularly resonating with women 36-49 who grew up watching him in early 2000s teen dramas, and the throwback aesthetic successfully triggered emotional connections.
- The lighthearted, escapist tone resonated strongly but many didn’t register the message of the new flavor in their top of mind comments.
- The primary objection not surprisingly concerned the unnecessarily long length, which tested the patience of some women while a smaller set also objected to the perceived sexualized content (a limited, but notable risk as some Exploit signal was sparked). Some women also struggled to connect the content to a drink.
- However, it’s currently optimized for entertainment over product communication. Opportunity to tighten the runtime, strengthen the product connection, and clarify the limited-time offer could be considered to convert this creative success into an even higher sales impact.
- As such, media investment against F36+ is justified, though creative refinement could unlock a stronger commercial outcome. Non-skippable media is recommended to ensure full viewing.
Sample comments on the 1:25 “Melting for You” among women 36+
“Very catchy to a woman my age. Loved the celebrity and hilarious nostalgia.”
Female 36-49
“Love the humor. Everything is so serious so it was a nice break [to view the ad].”
Female 36-39
“The ad was developed by an all male entity, showing females as weak brained and ‘melting’ in the presence of a good looking non typical sexual ‘dream man’ of muscles and strength. Not a good ad for Bubly.”
Female 50+
“I loved this ad! I am interested in trying the product, and I loved the use of nostalgia to make such a fun commercial.”
Female 36-49
“The commercial was way too long and didn’t make any sense at all about the drink to me. It wastes one minute and 15 seconds of my time.” Female 50+
“Was an insult to the female sex myself. This does not sell.”
Female 50+
“This is one of the most adorable and watchable ads I’ve seen in a long time. I liked it very much.”
Female 36-49
“I think it was too sexual, instead of the drink….”
Female 50+
“Awesome! I watch Erin on YouTube! Informative. Cute. Like the storyline and characters.”
Female 50+
“It’s great! Gets millennials attention. Funny.”
Female 36-49
- Women over 36 clearly responded more positively to “Melting for You” despite the length vs recent Liquid Death and Essentia spots:
- Within the full gen pop audience, “Melting for You” was a larger turnoff than the Liquid Death and Essentia (shorter-form) spots:
- This underscores the importance of targeting this video ad to the appropriate female audience (millennials and up).
Ineffective creative, even if delivered to the right audience, results in missed opportunity and performance shortfalls. Great creative delivered poorly also results in failed campaigns.
Schedule a demo to find out how your brand can partner with iSpot to quickly solve both challenges simultaneously, delivering high-performing creative while boosting the effectiveness of planning and in-market execution to achieve—and outperform—campaign objectives.
Creative Agency: Noun Agency, Juxtapose Studio, and ACC