Walmart is getting an early start on Black Friday once again this year with a nostalgic campaign featuring the cast of “Mean Girls.” The campaign comes from a collective of Publicis Groupe agencies, including Fallon, Publicis New York, the Community, Contender and Digitas.
Marketing News & Strategy
Walmart turns to ‘Mean Girls’ for Black Friday ad
Campaign from Publicis shops backs weeks of pre-Black Friday deals, as Walmart once again mines a classic film for the holidays
Lindsay Lohan (center) is among the original cast members reprising their roles from the 2004 teen comedy.
Credit:
Walmart
The initial ad broke today, with new spots to follow each Wednesday throughout November on YouTube. Lindsay Lohan (who narrates the ad and now plays a guidance counselor), Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, Daniel Franzese and Rajiv Surendra from the cast of the 2004 film all show up reprising their roles, now as adults. Rachel McAdams and Tina Fey, who also starred in the teen comedy, were not part of the initial ad. The effort is similar to Walmart’s use of the cast from “Office Space” last year to launch its pre-Black Friday efforts online and in stores.
Once again, the idea is to highlight that Walmart+ members will get three-hour early access to Black Friday deals, which start on Nov. 8, with new ones breaking weekly throughout the month.
Included in the initial long-form (1:56) YouTube video are numerous Easter egg references to “Mean Girls,” including the cool-great “grool” mashup, the continued effort to make “Fetch” a thing and Toaster Strudel. Shorter versions of the ads will run on TV also, a spokeswoman said.
The approach last year seemed to work, and didn’t steal the real Black Friday’s thunder. Walmart recorded a 6% year-over-year sales increase on Black Friday last year vs. 2% for Target, according to Bloomberg Second Measure.
