But Will Customers Say Yes?

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Wedding-ring chain store Robbins Bros. has launched a TV advertising campaign that depicts marriage proposals as seen from the ring’s point of view.

The Azusa company got the idea after reviewing testimonials that customers wrote on the company’s website and social network pages. The company hired Pasadena ad agency Conscious Minds to use some of them as inspiration for TV spots.

Blake Heal, co-founder of Conscious Minds, said that in addition to the vignettes provided by Robbins, his team spent time on YouTube watching home videos of proposals to see how women react when a man pops the question.

“Most of the time the initial response isn’t ‘yes’ but rather a simple nod of the head or tears,” he said. “Or on the other end of the spectrum, extreme joy where the girl screams, jumps up and down, and sometimes even knocks down her boyfriend.”

During filming, Heal knelt down and proposed to nearly 50 professional actresses. Some of the resulting moments, filmed through the engagement rings, were compiled into two 30-second spots that launched July 16 in Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas and Houston.

Although only the women are seen in the commercials, shooting through the ring shows their reactions from the man’s point of view, said Larry Gomperts, executive vice president of marketing at Robbins.

“The guy is the one who kneels and is almost literally looking through the ring,” Gomperts said. “It was a powerful way to communicate what the guy is living at that moment.”

The commercials, which feature between 12 and 15 proposals each, were filmed at distinctive Southern California locations such as the Santa Monica beach and the merry-go-round at Griffith Park. Gomperts said couples often revert to the location of their first date for the proposal, but about once a week he hears about a couple who did it inside a Robbins store.

“When they find the dream ring, the man drops to his knee on the spot,” he said.