In new Northwell commercial, kids tell grownups how to be happier in 2025

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Seven-year-old Hunter things adults would be happier if they follow this advice: “Push all the elevator buttons.” Six-year-old Kent offers this tip: “Cupcakes.” Eight-year-old Juniper suggests this: “Be messy.”

These are just some of the tips children share in a 30-second ad from Northwell Health on becoming happier in 2025.  The health system teamed up Strawberry Frog, a Manhattan-based creative agency, for this ad, which runs through mid-January of 2025.

Directed by Christina Hodnet of Spears & Arrows, a California-based commercial production company, the holiday ad features five-to-nine-year-old children, some of whose parents are Northwell employees, who share health and happiness insights. The ad, “A Little Wisdom” is designed to offer “a fresh perspective” as well as reinforce Northwell’s “commitment to advancing better physical and emotional health within the community,” according to a news release about the campaign.

“At this time of year, we want to make sure that everyone has a reason to smile,” Joe Leston, deputy chief marketing officer at Northwell, said in the news release.

The ad is part of the health system’s “Raise Health” platform. Last year’s ad focused on New York centenarians.

“Our raise health platform allows us to speak to the drivers of health in really interesting ways — even the effects that happiness has on one’s overall health,” Leston said. “Sometimes it takes the youngest among us — our littlest health-raisers — to remind us of the little pleasures in life. By partnering with team members and their families to bring this uplifting campaign to life, we’ve created something that fills our entire community with pride and joy.”

The children bring a fresh voice to the campaign’s mix.

“There’s something magical about how children can deliver profound wisdom without even trying,” Nick Sonderup, chief creative officer at StrawberryFrog, said in the news release.

“We stripped away the typical healthcare marketing playbook and simply let kids be kids,” Sonderup added. “The result is a campaign that makes you smile but also makes you think. Their unfiltered take on what makes people healthy and happy aligns perfectly with Northwell’s mission to humanize healthcare.”