• by Sarah Mahoney , 4 hours ago

Etsy has a message for Amazon Prime Day shoppers: There are 5,000 other Jeffs who could use your money more than Amazon Executive Chair Jeff Bezos. The ecommerce company is introducinga new "Shop Other Jeffs" campaign, timed to Amazon Prime Day, which urges people to buy from non-billionaires instead of Amazon.

Since its launch in 2015, Prime Day has grown to a four-day event and become a major global shopping phenomenon, reshaping everything from back-to-school to holiday to grocery shopping. Many rivals, including Walmart and Target, have developed competing sales events. This year, consumers stressed about inflation and soaring energy prices are expected to be especially deal-hungry. EMarketer forecasts that Amazon's U.S. Prime Day sales will rise 7.1% to $15.68 billion this year.

Etsy knows all that, of course, and is playfully asking people to stick it to the man. "One Jeff should not rule commerce," the defiant ads say, and move on to highlight some nice-guy Jeffs, including one who's been making pottery for decades, a woodworker focused on sustainable hardwoods, and a lamp maker.

The ads are running on broadcast TV and streaming on Hulu, Paramount, Netflix, Max, Disney and — irony fully intended — Amazon Prime Video and Amazon streaming TV. Paid social will include TikTok and YouTube. Out of home ads, including digital trucks, will run in Seattle, New York and Washington D.C.

Etsy will also have a dedicated "Shop Other Jeffs" landing page with some billionaire-bashing merch, and an app takeover rolling out in the coming weeks.

In a blog post, Etsy CMO Brad Minor says the ecommerce platform sees Prime Day hoopla as a chance to start a different shopping conversation. "Consumers increasingly want their purchases to mean something by reflecting their values, their taste and the people they want to support," he writes. "And yet, convenience has become the loudest voice in the room, making it hard to hear much else over it."

Amazon's grip on shopper attention isn't as strong as it once was. EMarketer says 55% of shoppers plan to shop with multiple retailers during the event, including Walmart, Target — and Etsy hopes — a few other Jeffs.