J.C. Penney is pushing the envelope in a back-to-school campaign that combines several poignant spots with a reality TV series available on the Web. One commercial follows a pack of students as
they are chased around school by headless--though very well-dressed--zombies who, it turns out, want to impart fashion advice.
The Webisodes (at jcpenney.com) challenge students to
leave the comfort of their self-assigned cliques and join an unlikely social circle for a few days.
The campaign, set to start on Friday, is from Saatchi & Saatchi, which Penney hired
in September. Since then, Penney has introduced a series of campaigns that tell stories - heartstring-tugging, even tear-jerking tales that look very little like any advertising any department store
has done before. Kevin Roberts, the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, wooed Penney with his theory of "lovemark" brands that "inspire loyalty beyond reason."
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