For some ad campaigns, brands are borrowing from classic TV

Is that an ad, or is it a TV show?

Recent ad campaigns from several different brands are trying to be a little bit of both. Denny’s and Skittles borrowed the feel of sitcoms, JCPenney riffed on a docu-drama/reality show, and Johnston & Murphy parodied SportsCenter.

As advertisers look to entertain audiences more than interrupt them, some are taking inspiration from more traditional forms of entertainment to do it. For some, the inspiration comes down to the look and feel. For others, it might also include the release schedule and episode structure: Skittles, for example, rolled out a sitcom series, “Ghost Roommate,” in six-second increments on TikTok around Halloween.

For Denny’s, the appeal of creating its sitcom-like ad campaign, “Welcome to Denny’s,” was borne out of the nostalgia associated with the long-standing TV format—and for potential diners to feel at home in the “third place” that a classic diner provides, Meredith Thornton, VP of brand strategy and communications at Denny’s, told Marketing Brew.

The resulting spots, by BarkleyOKRP, feature a horn soundtrack and a laugh track, as well as warm visual tones and a slight gauzy blur that add to the feel of a ’90s sitcom. One spot seems almost like the title sequence to a show where meal deals are the true stars—although there are still various characters featuring in the mock sitcom, including the “booth,” “night owls,” and influencer guest stars the McFarland family, who have 1.8 million followers on Instagram.

“[The campaign has] really stood out and felt ownable and breakthrough for the brand,” Thornton said. The ability to create “this sitcom feeling of characters and seeing yourself there and the entertainment overall,” she added, has been beneficial for the chain.

Real feel

JCPenney, meanwhile, wasn’t trying to spoof reality TV with “Retail Rejuvenation,” a four-minute ad that feels as if it could be a reality TV show where consumers look to rethink their purchasing habits. Instead, JCPenney and ad agency Mischief were trying to create content that consumers would actually watch.

In other words, the fact that the spot could be confused as entertainment is no accident.

“We were very purposeful in thinking about this not really being a traditional ad,” Marisa Thalberg, chief customer and marketing officer at JCPenney parent company Catalyst Brands, told us, adding that the team thought of the spot as social-first storytelling that could “disrupt preconceived notions in an entertaining way.”

That approach to storytelling has already paid off for JCPenney engagement-wise, according to Thalberg. The video completion rate is in the “high 90s,” she said, with viewers watching both the shorter and longer versions of the campaign.

Kevin Mulroy, partner and executive creative director at Mischief, told Marketing Brew that the reality-like concept extended to the casting process, too. People auditioning were asked to bring an object that they regretted purchasing, talk about why they bought it, and how they felt about it, Mulroy said. The creative team used that exercise to find people who they felt could convey the real emotions they intended to capture in the spot.

“People hate ads; they love good ideas,” Mulroy told us. “In terms of the reality piece, we didn’t just want to do actors…We found real shoppers.”

“My show is on”

It isn’t all that surprising that brand marketers and agency execs, looking for ways to create content that people may actually want to watch, are taking inspiration from traditional TV formats. Marketers are grappling with a changing media environment where it can be challenging to get viewers to engage with content—and some brands are pushing into original content, including scripted social series and microdramas.

“Brands always have to blend in,” Sam Ogborn, marketing strategist and consultant, told Marketing Brew. “They can’t act like they’re showing you an ad because they know that someone’s attention span is .005 seconds at this point. They have to find ways to capture attention in whatever means in any way that they can.”

If brands are creating an ad that feels more like a show than a traditional ad, that may help capture that attention. It also helps that “this concept of, ‘My show is on’ is very popular right now,” Ogborn said.

“That’s just another easy way for a brand to gain traction,” she continued, “without coming off like they’re an ad.”