The latest commercial from mattress maker, Sealy, features characters like the fictional King Augustus Ferdinand IV of Krustania, encouraging people to “get a better six” (which is the tagline for the series of ads).

The ad, inspired by research conducted by National Sleep Foundation which has found out many Americans do not get enough hours of sleep, is actually a departure from promos Sealy usually make. It’s supposedly an effort to boost sales, especially since the company has been falling back on targets of late.

A number of analysts say mattress maker Sealy Corp. is in for one of its worst years ever. But the company hopes at least its customers can find something to laugh about.

As Sealy struggles with sales, it is trying its hand at humor in its latest commercials.
In something of a departure for mattress makers, Sealy is trying its hand at humor in its latest commercials. Sealy’s “Better Six” print and television ads present snoozing, decadent characters — a trust-fund baby, for example, or the fictional King Augustus Ferdinand IV of Krustania — who have the opportunity to sleep at length; because normal people are lucky to get six hours of sleep, the ads say, the tagline encourages consumers to “get a better six.”

The company needs something to help awaken sales. Much of the momentum in the industry these days is in the specialty-mattress segment, which features technologies such as memory foam and latex inside the mattress instead of coil springs. And that is not where the leading players — Sealy, Simmons Co. and Serta Inc. — do most of their business.

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