JC Penney is getting a lot of mileage - without asking for it - for an ad that a third party created for the 2008 International Advertising Festival at Cannes. Here’s something Saatchi wants everyone to know:
“Saatchi & Saatchi has a long history of producing principled and respectful advertising for JCPenney and its entire client roster. The Speed Dressing TV commercial, which was submitted to the 2008 International Advertising Festival at Cannes, was created by a third party vendor without JCPenney’s knowledge or consent. It was produced and released to the public without any knowledge or prior approval from JCPenney. Saatchi & Saatchi did not enter the spot and deeply regrets the message this ad presents. Saatchi & Saatchi apologizes to JCPenney, its associates and its customers. The commercial is being removed from public circulation.”
Maybe I am missing something, but this should have been created under the form of a parody. We’ve done comedy skits using Hellman’s Mayo and 2000 Flushes.
We could have gotten away with both uses of their trademark, but we played it safe. Anyway, enjoy the ads, I like them both quite a bit:
Tags: Online Advertising, Video|
Posted By: Ashkan Karbasfrooshan | Jun 24th
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June 26th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Maybe I’m jaded and/or paranoid, but I can’t help thinking that maybe JC Penny is pulling an Edelman astroturf maneuver, but only more intelligently. By producing something like this on the sly and then publicly denouncing it, they get to get the youth demographic all excited without alienating or infuriating their current target demographic.
Saatchi & Saatchi has claimed that a third party vendor created the vid without JC Penny’s knowledge. And the NY based firm that entered it at Cannes (I’m not sure if they are the same “third party vendor”) has declined any comment.
That third party vendor to Saatchi & Saatchi is just far enough to keep the retailing giant insulated, but close enough to make my paranoia seem plausible.