• by Danielle Oster , September 9, 2024

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Perennial advertising favorite Will Ferrell stars in a new campaign for PayPal, designed to showcase how easy it is to shop with PayPal on the phone, in stores or online.

The 60-second  anthem ad opens with the actor and comedian learning he can use PayPal on his phone to make purchases in stores. This moves Ferrell to song, as he reinterprets the Fleetwood Mac song “Everywhere," reimagining its chorus as “I want to pay with you everywhere.” In case there’s any doubt, he exclaims, “Did you see what I did there? I changed the lyrics,” when picking up a food order using the payment method. The ad also highlights “cash-back” reward benefits for using the payment service in conjunction with the PayPal Debit Mastercard, without exactly making that link clear.

Ending with the tagline, “Don’t just pay, PayPal,” as Ferrell dances around a grocery store, the spot is the centerpiece in what PayPal is describing as its largest-ever U.S. ad campaign. It makes its national broadcast debut during the first “Monday Night Football" game of the season between the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets Sept. 9, and will continue airing across various networks throughout the rest of the year

"Getting cash back hasn't been this easy since my boys were little, and I'd take extra Monopoly money while they weren't looking,” Ferrell quipped in the announcement.

PayPal’s multiplatform campaign, which launches a new visual identity for the brand, will also run across OOH, digital media, streaming, radio and podcast audio, with influencer marketing components. The campaign has also taken over the brand’s social channels, with other content removed from the brand’s Instagram page to make room for the revamped brand identity. PayPal also used the campaign to launch a brand TikTok page.

According to a statement from PayPal CMO Geoff Seeley, the star-powered ad’s focus on “the idea that PayPal is truly everywhere and more rewarding than ever” is indicative of a new, “exciting direction” the company’s messaging is “heading in” going forward as the brand continues to evolve.

In a recent call with investors discussing the results of the company’s Q2 earnings report, PayPal CEO Alex Chriss discussed plans to “invest in marketing in the back half of the year and beyond to further position PayPal and Venmo as rewarding ways to pay,” as the company rolled out improvements to its “branded checkout experiences.”