JC Penney earns own spot in the doghouse
JC Penney this week rolled out just what the world needs: another Flash microsite for the holidays. I have to look at so many microsites that my expectations are never high. Still, some do stand out—the ones that make me wonder why anyone in their right mind would spend time there. "Beware of the Doghouse" is one of those sites. First, upon arriving at the site, it tells me my browser isn't good enough. You know what, JC Penney, it is. Next, there's an intro video to sit through—nearly five minutes of painful setup to the site's "idea." Which is: Men are doofuses—shocking that advertising would portray them that way—and get women dumb holiday gifts, even vacuum cleaners. They are then banished to a mythical doghouse until they buy their way out. Get it? Hey, it worked for Kobe. JC Penney employs an eye-rolling user-generated approach by letting visitors put men in the doghouse. (There's a techie twist with one of the earliest uses of Facebook Connect, which lets visitors check if their friends are in the doghouse. None of mine are, it seems.) How to get out? Diamonds! Men simply need to buy their ladies the three-stone ring, journey pendant or diamond studs—from JC Penney, conveniently enough. Saatchi & Saatchi and Razorfish boldly take credit for this. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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December 5, 2008 in Digital, JC Penney, Razorfish, Saatchi & Saatchi | Permalink |
Comments
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I dunno, the video was pretty cool if you ask me...I'd be happy to have it on my reel. And no, I didn't work on it. And no, I don't work at Saatchi.
Posted by: formofjon | Dec 5, 2008 1:41:38 PM
I dunno, as far Christmas jewelry ads go ... you can't say it's worse.
Would you rather see more 'he went to Jared' ads?
Posted by: G | Dec 5, 2008 3:52:38 PM
Fun idea. Seems to be doing well with the YouTube crowd (aka consumers). Not sure why you're so down on it.
Posted by: LB | Dec 5, 2008 4:52:43 PM
The spot is good. Solid even and really funny at times. Maybe a bit long, but that's nit-picking. It's the site and user experience there that is LAME. Good TV, bad everything else.
Posted by: MATT | Dec 5, 2008 4:56:36 PM
The spot is good. Solid even and really funny at times. Maybe a bit long, but that's nit-picking. It's the site and user experience there that is LAME. Good TV, bad everything else.
Posted by: MATT | Dec 5, 2008 4:56:36 PM
I took this campaign for what it was: a holiday promotion for diamonds. The video is witty and funny and the web site is refreshingly simple and direct. It's nice to see jcpenney buying such edgy work in a tough economic situation. Nice work saatchi.
Posted by: Joseph | Dec 5, 2008 8:53:20 PM
I took this campaign for what it was: a holiday promotion for diamonds. The video is witty and funny and the web site is refreshingly simple and direct. It's nice to see jcpenney buying such edgy work in a tough economic situation. Nice work saatchi.
Posted by: Joseph | Dec 5, 2008 8:55:26 PM
I took this campaign for what it was: a holiday promotion for diamonds. The video is witty and funny and the web site is refreshingly simple and direct. It's nice to see jcpenney buying such edgy work in a tough economic situation. Nice work saatchi.
Posted by: Joseph | Dec 5, 2008 8:55:48 PM
When will people learn proper web standards. Your browser IS good enough--better in fact! I am typing this on my phone so, no chance an impression will be had from me.
Posted by: Adam Broitman | Dec 6, 2008 8:52:06 AM
brian is right yet again. and the suspiciously pro-saatchi commenters are, well, suspicious.
this is just a "meh" idea pushed waaaay too far. the direction is good. that's about it.
it's a knuckle-dragging idea. married life, and real life in general, is happily a lot more complicated and grown up than this puerile shite.
Posted by: A. Prinze | Dec 6, 2008 9:45:58 PM
funny JCpenny video, get's me thinking too... still it's about the longest advertisement i've ever seen
Posted by: Nomad | Jun 1, 2009 5:28:25 AM
