Commentary

Lowe's Jump-Scare Is A Halloween Love Letter

Lowe’s customers know they can ask the retailer for advice on lawn care or replacing a light fixture. Thanks to the Halloween-themed “Haunted: How to Safely Operate a Chainsaw” video, they can rely on the company for tips on a DIY chainsaw massacre. Created by Dentsu, the film has the voiceover of a humdrum handyman and the shaky camera work of a crazed fiend showing off his weapons of mass dismemberment.  Kyle McCarthy, Lowe’s vice president and chief creative officer, tells Retail Insider how the ad came to be and how the one-off builds on brand authenticity.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Retail Insider: Slasher movies aren’t the usual holiday inspiration ad. How did you decide to do this spot?

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Kyle McCarthy: Dentsu, our creative agency, brought this to us. We sat together as a small team to brainstorm ways to go in on scary this Halloween, and they took a run  with this “Haunted How-to.” There’s this wonderful play of shared currency, from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” to “Halloween” to “Friday the 13th.”

Retail Insider: At many companies, this is the kind of idea that everyone would have loved but never gotten the green light. Someone would have said, “Fun, but this is off-brand,” or “Our demographic doesn’t like jump scares.” What kind of leadership can help get an offbeat idea through?

McCarthy: Any idea can be great, big or small. The criteria are that the idea has to be authentic to the business and our business needs. What's more authentic to our business than tools? And if you think about it, much of the stuff we sell at Lowe's every day takes center stage in scary movies. If anybody has permission to do that, we do – we sell all the tools of frightening season.

Second, our category has a sea of sameness -- scary décor, pumpkins or whatever.

We thought this was a great way to authentically open up our aperture.

Retail Insider: What is it about chainsaws? My husband owns several. My two-year-old grandson has a toy chainsaw he sleeps with. And why are they scary? I could kill or maim someone with many Lowe’s tools.

McCarthy: Chainsaws are iconic, just like Leatherface. They also make a big scary noise with a signature sound. And everyone knows what they are. The chainsaw is perfect for a video vehicle like this.

Retail Insider: What makes the spot comical is that the voiceover is a guy who might as well be explaining how to fix a leaky faucet, while the visuals have that twitchy, dark “Blair Witch” feel.

McCarthy: Yes. We’ve got this plain-Jane ordinary safety video -- the most mundane thing you can imagine -- combined with this potentially terrible person.

Retail Insider: The video is running on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Who is the target?

McCarthy: Even though the spot has got that 1980s VHS feel, we are always targeting millennials and Gen Zs. This is really for anybody who enjoys a good scare. This is more a love letter to Halloween than an appeal to hardcore chainsaw users.

Retail Insider: What kind of results have you gotten so far?

McCarthy: We’ve gotten many views, so we’ve already gotten our money’s worth. The best part is the comments, including a few from people who’d like a full-length film. When that happens and people are that engaged, you know you’re hitting it right.

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