• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 13, 2024

Target didn’t need the Super Bowl to start a funny football conversation. The retailer is rolling out a novel campaign to get Target shoppers talking about a real relationship issue: In every couple, there’s someone who needs “just one thing” at Target. And that means the second person is stuck in the parking lot for hours.

It turns out Matthew Stafford, NFL quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, is one of the latter, spending the offseason driving his family around on errands. And “The Teammates of Target,” the four-minute mockumentary, highlights the fictional support group that welcomes him to the fold, even if they can’t figure out who he is.

While the group started as “the husbands of Target,” bonding over beef jerky, it’s expanded to include wives left outside by their husbands and even kids ditched by their parents. New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson, for example, stumbles into the club while his mom is shopping for an air fryer.

The gang fills their time with board games, karaoke and tailgating. Enter Minivan Guy, a barbecue enthusiast happy to cook cheeseburgers for the crowd.

No one, however, seems to get that Minivan Guy is Stafford, despite his epic cornhole skills. “I think he works at the zoo,” ventures one. “He used to work with big cats, and now he’s a shepherd.”

The campaign also stars social-media influencers known for domestic laughs, like Dude_Dad and the Holderness Family.

A spokesperson for Target tells Marketing Daily that in its first three days, the video has collected nearly 17.5 million views on TikTok and 52,000 likes on Instagram. It’s also running on YouTube.

Portal A, a content agency, created the campaign.

Separately, Target is also making headlines following a report from Bloomberg, which says the Minneapolis-based retailer is mulling an entry into the world of paid memberships. The service, which would compete with Amazon Prime, Walmart Plus and Kroger Boost, is code-named Project Trident. And Bloomberg reports it could launch as early as this year.

While Target already has Target Circle, a loyalty membership program, the new effort might include Shipt, the grocery delivery company Target acquired in 2017.