• by Barbara Lippert , Columnist, April 3, 2024

Energetically renewed and re-glued into her bowl-shaped wig, actress Kristen Wiig has returned to the public eye as the beloved Target Lady from "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) in a new campaign.

Wiig is reanimating the Target Lady in an amusing series of commercials for – wait for it – Target. The pairing seems inevitable, and has come full circle, so to speak in Target graphics. 

But what brings out the humor is that she’s an oddball in always-unexpected ways, and the iconic character drew laughs the minute she was introduced on SNL back in 2007. Target Lady became one of the show’s most popular characters and a recurring favorite.

Wiig, now appearing in “Palm Royale” on Apple TV+, originated the Target Lady role as a member of the comedy group The Groundlings (an SNL feeder of sorts) and performed the excitable character on her SNL audition tape.

There will be 12 commercials in all, with a teaser and two spots released so far. Target worked with Wiig, who reunited with her former SNL colleague, writer James Anderson, to copywrite the spots. The commercials were directed by Tom Kuntz, who is great with wildly eccentric human beings. Todd Waterbury, the retailer’s long-time creative chief, led the team and retired after getting these in the bank.

I’ve mentioned before that I understand why brands and agencies gravitate toward using well-known SNL characters. They are instantly recognizable and pre-loved. They give the project immediate comedy props. But performed within the free, acid-comedy context of a show like SNL, these characters are funny because they’re satirizing well-known institutions in a subversive way.

That attitude is tough for selling anything, so advertisers run the chance of turning the characters into shills. Although this one came fully branded.

Still, 17 years is a long time. The world has changed, and so has Target. I wondered whether the bit might not fit what they’re selling now, which is a mouthful: the launch of Target Circle Week, April 7 to 13, as well as encouraging customers to join Target Circle, the store’s free rewards program, and Target Circle 360, a subscription-based program that will provide same-day shipping for shoppers.

In addition to all that promo talk, I also questioned whether the character might seem dated or tired.

But the teaser, “Big Morning,” has big energy, humor, and a knock-your-socks-off quality, all helped immensely by the music, “Baby I’m a Star” by Prince.

Using that song by Prince, he of Target’s headquarter city, Minneapolis, was a masterstroke.

The spot shows our Lady of the Bull’s Eye (excitedly) preparing for her first day back at the store. Cleverly, the retailer becomes part of the environment. Like Barbie, Target Lady lives in a fully branded T-house, removing her Target eyeshade in the morning to step into her Target slippers, and comb her industrial shelves, in themselves providing a Target store full of Target-branded food and accessories.

Then she delights in her closet, devoted to hundreds of red Target vests. 

My favorite detail was watching her trim her bangs while wearing a white bowl on her head for guidance. 

And then, voila – she’s done, and launches herself into a target-covered round hatch in her house to superpower her landing at work.

That one is SNL-worthy.

In another spot, Target Lady is on the retail floor, throwing a pillow around at her bedding outpost. This one gets much more sell-y, as her manager comes over to tell her about all the Target Circle Week deals, spotlighting free, same-day delivery.

But Lady interrupts the manager to tell her she already knows, giving her a chance to repeat the deal. The manager asks how she found out. She says “a little birdie” told her. And here’s where something unexpected and offbeat comes in. Cut to her having a sandwich in the breakroom when a pigeon gives her the secret info. Mr. Pigeon’s got a name – Howard, and he’s supposed to be from Chicago.

But he reads New York.

Actual pigeons all have 1940s New York wise-guy accents, and Howie seems to fit the bill, if you ask me.

All in all, the Target Lady team has done admirable work.

Sadly, however, her hyper-excited attitude really doesn’t ring true these days. The contemporary retail scene is marked by cutbacks on human employees and a reliance on digital help and AI. Disclaimer: I shop at a miniaturized Target in the middle of New York City. And there are precious few staffers on the floor. It’s almost impossible to find one if you need help. Self-checkout is kind of a nightmare for me (I know some people like it) and the few employees who are at the registers are overburdened with lines of pissed-off customers with overflowing carts.

But the media plan is gold: Wiig is set to host SNL for the fifth time, Saturday, April 6, and these deals go live at 2 a.m. CT on Sunday, April 7.

The multiplatform ads are entertaining and have already gotten positive reviews. But they’ll bring people into stores where only the ghosts of dedicated employees past exist.

These days retailers, who across the board are cutting back, should reinvest in their workforce as the ultimate perk for shoppers.

And specifically for the red polo-shirted ones, Target should give them back their jobs – and something to get excited about.