• by Teresa Buyikian , Yesterday

Instacart is coming to the defense of some of its less-than-perfect male shoppers in a new social campaign staring two meme-worthy celebs.  

This week the delivery brand dropped the teaser for “The Male Shopper Project,” a new creator-led, “mico-drama” starring Antoni Porowski ("Queer Eye") and Hannah Berner ("Giggly Squad"). 

The teaser (above) opens on a woman expressing displeasure at being assigned a male Instacart shopper, followed by screenshots of dozens of social posts commenting on male shoppers, with such lines as “A man is shopping my Instacart, thoughts and prayers,” and “Male Instacart shopper, lord help me.” 

An Instacart blog post supporting the new effort points to the fact that while 90% of rated Instacart orders received a perfect score, some “mishaps” have occurred, such as turkey dog food being delivered instead of turkey jerky, and tampons replaced with cotton swabs. 

The teaser goes on to introduce the tongue-in-cheek “The Male Shopper Project” in an effort to improve male shoppers’ grocery sections. Berner plays the customer, who thinks it’s time for male shoppers to “level up,” while Porowski runs the training camp like a drill sergeant. 

“…the male shopper meme has taken on a life of its own, and we felt it was time to respond,” said Jasmine Taylor, Instacart vice president of brand marketing. “We have the tools to help shoppers deliver great orders, and to give customers control over exactly what they get, and we wanted a campaign that could tell that story in a way that was truly entertaining. A narrative episode felt like the right vehicle. It's the kind of content people actually want to watch on social, and Antoni and Hannah give it the cultural credibility to cut through the noise.” 

“The Make Shopper Project” full micro-drama is expected to drop later this week via the brand’s socials. A customer offer for $10 off $20+ retail orders with code 5STAR accompanies the effort through the end of the month.