Diving overview:
- Walmart has reunited its “Mean Girls” cast members for a Black Friday promotion that recreates key scenes from the 2004 teen comedy. The company will hold “Black Friday Deals” events on November 10th and November 24th, and will conduct online access on November 8th and November 22nd, respectively.
- The Hero video stars Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried reprising their roles, but their characters include high school kids. The clip gives a preview of some of the deals, with nods to iconic moments and dialogue from the movie.
- The campaign was created by a collective of Publicis Groupe agencies including Fallon, Publicis NY, The Community, Contender and Digitas. New creatives will drop every Wednesday in November and on Cyber Monday (November 27th).
Dive Insight:
Walmart is riding the current advertising industry’s wave of nostalgia as it expands its Black Friday sales event to make “fetch” a reality. Black Friday traditionally takes place on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but in an effort to increase membership for its subscription service, Walmart is running an additional promotion on November 10th, making both events available to Walmart+ members. It starts early.
The two-minute video, posted on the brand’s YouTube and social pages, reunites Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried, as well as co-stars Daniel Franzese and Missy Elliott, who will appear in the film and ad with the song “Pass That Dutch.” ‘ is featured. In the clip, which recreates a performance of “Jingle Bell Rock” and other memorable scenes from the film, the characters become mothers of high school students.
“Some things never change. We still wear pink on Wednesdays,” Lohan says in voiceover.
Walmart will continue the campaign with additional ads every Wednesday in November and on Cyber Monday, the digital shopping day that follows Black Friday. The Publicis Groupe agency worked on the campaign, a nod to the fact that such efforts require a great deal of coordination.
Walmart launched Walmart+ in 2020 and has been adding perks and perks to its subscription plans to compete more closely with Amazon Prime. The company’s “other” revenue increased nearly 4% in its most recent financial period due to continued momentum in Walmart+ membership numbers.