By Heather Taylor, Editor-in-Chief, PopIcon
Bedtime just isn’t the same without the Serta Counting Sheep. America’s favorite flock of sheep celebrates their milestone 25th birthday in 2025.
When we last connected with these icons, they were embracing a new role in the bedroom in Serta’s “To All The Comforters” 2023 campaign. Since 2000, the original 13 Counting Sheep had famously been wisecrackers. They were openly jealous of Serta mattresses: the kind of mattresses that are so comfortable it puts them out of work. In the 2023 campaign, the Counting Sheep fell silent in the bedroom, prioritizing looking after customers who are caregivers.
This year, the Counting Sheep are celebrating their 25th birthday. Over the last 25 years, they’ve starred in more than 20 television campaigns and received prestigious awards including a Gold Effie (2002), the American Advertising Federation Silver Addy (2003), and the Advertising Age Commercial of the Month (2003). They were even nominated in Advertising Week’s annual Madison Avenue Walk of Fame in years 2007 and 2008 and won in 2008.
Where will the sheep go next? Will they return to their quippy roots, as seen circa 2002 until around 2016? Or will they embrace their softer side, as seen in 2023’s campaign? When PopIcon reached out to Serta to learn more about the Counting Sheep and their birthday celebrations, we were delighted to hear the flock will be just as prominent as ever in the near-future and will make us nostalgic for their nostalgic beginnings.
“We are so excited to celebrate the 25th birthday of our beloved Serta Counting Sheep,” said Anne Edwards, SVP of Serta Brand Marketing. “In 2025, we’ll launch a retro advertising campaign to drive store traffic and partner with retailers to celebrate this milestone — both inside and outside of their stores—with inflatables, banners, plushies — and some great promotions!”
Serta’s new targeted visibility campaign will feature a nod to a classic Aardman Animation ad and will feature the beloved sheep mascot celebrating his birthday milestone. (We’ll keep our fingers crossed that future commercials might be able to include more members of the original flock!) This campaign is scheduled to run over Memorial Fay, Labor Day and Black Friday in 2025. Additional national and evergreen promotions, along with promotional discounts, will also be available to customers in honor of the Counting Sheep birthday from Serta.
So now we’re curious as to which of the original 13 sheep will be the one highlighted in the birthday ad campaign. (Because, if you know the flock, you’ll know there isn’t a No. 25 among them to conveniently fill in that birthday spot.)
If we had to guess, we feel confident that No. 1, AKA The Leader of the Flock, will assume this starring role. He is the herd’s unofficial boss, after all. Gotta show the rest of the Counting Sheep how it’s done!
Image Credit: Serta
About the Author
Heather Taylor is the senior writer and editor-in-chief of PopIcon, Advertising Week’s blog about brand mascots. Got a pitch on brand mascots or want to wax nostalgic about characters? Drop her a line at howveryheather@gmail.com.
