Why Back Market's founder swears on his mother's life

With roots that stretch back to ancient oath-taking rituals, to swear on your mother’s life is – in theory – a way to insist to others you’re righteously telling the truth and absolutely deserve to be trusted, no matter what. And this colloquial phrase is right at the heart of Back Market’s latest global television campaign.

This week, a new television ad debuts where Back Market co-founder Thibaud Hug de Larauze pledges that if the refurbished tech retailer ever breaks its “Back Market Promise” around quality assurance then, well, his “mother” Valerie will have her life dismantled. “This is a joke, no!?” Valerie pleads to Thibaud, who shrugs his shoulders, before a whimsical voiceover reminds viewers that Valerie’s life is now potentially “yours”. A website link – backmarket.com/ValeriesEntireLife - then flashes onto the screen. 

Created by (and no pun intended) Mother, a UK advertising agency that has also worked with major brands such as Coca-Cola, Ikea, and Stella Artois, the ad is designed to quash any ongoing quality concerns consumers might have around embracing refurbished tech. It arrives at a time where the Back Market’s brand – which was recently named by Time Magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential companies – is rapidly growing awareness, plus providing a genuine mainstream alternative to Fast Tech churn. 

To celebrate this distinctly maternal television advert, I spoke to Thibaud about why it’s important to remind people of the quality of refurbished tech at the moment, and he also reflected on his own memories of telling white lies about his mum growing up.

Why did you want to flip this iconic phrase for the new Back Market TV campaign?

It is a phrase that’s so familiar with consumers. By saying, “on my mother’s life”, it’s kind of the last thing someone says when they really want to prove something to a naysayer, right? You’re demanding the highest possible trust from them, and it’s almost impossible to challenge in a way.

This advert obviously makes pretty bold claims about Back Market’s quality. Maybe some consumers who’ve never bought refurbished tech before might assume it’s “old” and therefore doesn’t work right—is this advertising about reversing that kind of stereotype?

For sure. Back when we launched Back Market, the defective rate for devices was pretty high and closer to 15% a year… but it is now at 4%. We’ve made refurbished devices closer to new, and we’ve worked hard to improve our ecosystem. Over the last two years, we also created a new battery program, so that whenever you buy a device from us, it comes with the assurance that the battery is 100% replaceable. That was once a big concern for our customers, but not anymore! We also created a premium program for spare parts and an express replacement service—if anything goes wrong with your iPhone you bought off us, we will send you a replacement instantly while you wait for your main one to be fixed. 

"By saying, “on my mother’s life”, we are demanding the highest possible trust from our customers" - Back Market's founder Thibaud Hug de Larauze

I hope it can be powerful seeing a CEO in a TV ad, as there’s nowhere to hide! In general, we’ve invested a lot of effort into creating a smooth customer experience, so now is the right time to remind this to the world and challenge them to test out our pledges around quality.   

Your mother is obviously played by an actress in the advert. Did your real mum have any specific requests or concerns?

She just said she wanted a great body double! I had to keep reminding her: “Mum, don’t worry, you’re still the best”, as maybe she got a little jealous, too. I didn’t put my real mum in the ad as I don’t want her to be bothered in the streets, but Valerie was a nice replacement. When we were shooting the TV ads, we also shot a Christmas variation, which was tough as it was a boiling hot day in Britain with no air conditioning… and I was wearing a wooly Xmas jumper. Hopefully, the final product was worth all the sweat.

Ultimately, what do you want people to take away from the TV campaign?

The public has 
been 
programmed 
by 
Fast 
Tech 
for 
so 
long, 
so we're 
almost
de-programming 
them 
so 
that 
they 
can 
see that they don’t need to keep on upgrading their phone! We want to show that a slow 
tech revolution 
is 
really 
something 
that 
people 
should 
embrace 
in 
order 
to 
be 
happier 
in 
their 
lives. 
It’s like: you 
don't 
need 
the 
latest 
device always, as that’s bad for our planet. But it is also important we show up in people’s lives without making them feel guilty! You have to educate, not judge, to cause genuine change. I just hope people come away from this with the feeling that Back Market is serious about what we do, but also not afraid to have some fun and be a bit tongue-in-cheek with it. 

And finally, I’m just curious, but did you ever use the - “I swear on my mother’s life” - phrase growing up?  

I used that phrase a lot as a kid, that’s for sure. It would usually be because my dad caught me doing something wrong; like watching TV late at night or eating ice cream first thing in the morning. I needed a quick excuse [laughs] to calm him down. “I swear on my mum’s life that she said it was okay!” was like a get-out-of-jail card. If you can make people laugh by reminiscing on this phrase, you can hopefully make them consider Slow Tech as an alternative, too. That’s my biggest hope.