Walmart reunites ‘Mean Girls’ to boost Black Friday push

Dive Brief:

• Walmart reunited cast members of “Mean Girls” for a Black Friday advertising push that recreates key scenes from the 2004 teen comedy. The retailer is holding “Black Friday Deals” events on Nov. 10 and Nov. 24, with online access on Nov. 8 and Nov. 22, respectively.
• In a hero video, Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried reprise their roles, although some characters now have children of their own. The clip nods to iconic moments and dialogue from the movie and previews several deals.
• The campaign was created by a collective of Publicis Groupe agencies including Fallon, Publicis NY, The Community, Contender and Digitas. New creative will drop every Wednesday in November and on Cyber Monday (Nov. 27).

Dive Insight:

Walmart is riding advertising’s current wave of nostalgia as it looks to make “fetch” happen with its expanded slate of Black Friday deal events. Black Friday traditionally occurs the Friday after Thanksgiving, but Walmart is running an additional sales promotion that starts online Nov. 8 and is opening both events three hours early to Walmart+ members as a way to boost memberships for the subscription service.

A two-minute video on the brand’s YouTube and social pages reunites Lohan, Chabert and Seyfried, along with co-star Daniel Franzese and Missy Elliott, whose song “Pass That Dutch” features in the film and ad. Their characters are now mothers and mentors to high schoolers in a clip that recreates the performance of “Jingle Bell Rock” and other memorable scenes from the film.

“Some things never change. On Wednesdays, we still wear pink,” Lohan says in voiceover.

Walmart will keep the campaign going with additional ads every Wednesday in November and on Cyber Monday, a digital shopping bonanza that follows Black Friday. A collective of Publicis Groupe agencies worked on the campaign, nodding to the amount of coordination such an effort takes.

Walmart launched Walmart+ in 2020 and has added perks and benefits to its subscription plan over time to compete more closely against Amazon Prime. Continued momentum for Walmart+ memberships helped grow the company’s “other” income by nearly 4% during its most recent earnings period.