The Ad J.C. Penney Doesn’t Want You to See
An award-winning ad made for J.C. Penney that the retailer is trying to distance itself from can still be readily found online. The witty but racy ad, apparently made by Epoch Films for ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi in the vein of a recent J.C. Penney ad campaign, but possibly after hours, depicts two teenagers practicing how fast they can put their clothes on, with the implication that they are preparing to have sex.
J.C. Penney has “instructed Saatchi to take any action it can to have the ad removed from the Internet,” according to the Wall Street Journal. So in case that actually starts to happen, here are some places to look to see it for yourself:
You can still find the ad on the Cannes Lions site, as it took bronze in a retail stores division of the advertising festival. A downloadable version is here. Multiple versions on YouTube are here, here, and here, for instance.
Saatchi’s official statement, from the comments:
“Saatchi & Saatchi has a long history of producing principled and respectful advertising for JCPenney and its entire client roster. The Speed Dressing TV commercial, which was submitted to the 2008 International Advertising Festival at Cannes, was created by a third party vendor without JCPenney’s knowledge or consent. It was produced and released to the public without any knowledge or prior approval from JCPenney. Saatchi & Saatchi did not enter the spot and deeply regrets the message this ad presents. Saatchi & Saatchi apologizes to JCPenney, its associates and its customers. The commercial is being removed from public circulation.”
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DiGennaro Communications is issuing this statement on behalf of Saatchi & Saatchi.
“Saatchi & Saatchi has a long history of producing principled and respectful advertising for JCPenney and its entire client roster. The Speed Dressing TV commercial, which was submitted to the 2008 International Advertising Festival at Cannes, was created by a third party vendor without JCPenney’s knowledge or consent. It was produced and released to the public without any knowledge or prior approval from JCPenney. Saatchi & Saatchi did not enter the spot and deeply regrets the message this ad presents. Saatchi & Saatchi apologizes to JCPenney, its associates and its customers. The commercial is being removed from public circulation.”
DiGennaro Communications on June 24th, 2008 at 8:24 am - Permalink
I understand why JCP would not want that message out there. But to be really real… if you give two teens the opportunity, they will take it.
Parents need to stop being naive. Little Billy is not interested in that TV show, he’s interested in….
Lawrence on June 24th, 2008 at 11:43 am - Permalink
[...] retailers advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, produced an interesting ad that shows two teenagers timing themselves on how quickly they can get dressed. The subtle message [...]
Trying to Get the Genie Back in the Bottle | Mark Evans on June 24th, 2008 at 12:39 pm - Permalink
[...] retailers advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, produced an interesting ad that shows two teenagers (a boy and a girl) timing themselves on how quickly they can get dressed. [...]
Trying to Get the Genie Back in the Bottle | Mark Evans on June 24th, 2008 at 1:01 pm - Permalink
They’re probably secretly happy that it’s going viral. For that matter, this is probably an orchestrated effort.
What, me jaded?
Mark Schoneveld on June 24th, 2008 at 1:32 pm - Permalink
The Speed Dressing ad is amazing…creative, contemporary, and thought-provoking. Why in the world would JC Penney be upset with all of the attention this ad is attracting. Hey, maybe this was the plan! Kudo’s to the creators of Speed Dressing.
Roseann Humphrey on June 24th, 2008 at 4:29 pm - Permalink
[...] Here’s the ad that J.C.Penny did not want you to see (background info here) [...]
Doug’s Dynamic Drivel » Quick Change Artists on June 24th, 2008 at 5:47 pm - Permalink
Hmm, Saatchi should know that Crispin does such viral ads for real and which is paid for by the client.
This ad does not work with the sign-off. It seems to be creative for the sake of being creative for award submission…
An ad should do more than just attract people to see it and leave it as that.
After all, when you ask them to see it, the next question is what do you want me to do after seeing it?
Poorly thought out. Draggy storyline. Such badly thoughout scam work should not be encouraged.
Roger Makak on June 24th, 2008 at 7:25 pm - Permalink
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steveking121 on June 24th, 2008 at 9:02 pm - Permalink
[...] any action it can to have the ad removed from the Internet.” Uh huh. And now, suddenly, that ad is all over the internets. The whole thing smacks of mock outrage with a demand to takedown content knowing that it will only [...]
News About Tech from all around the world » Mock Outrage Over An Ad You Paid For? Reverse Streisand Effect on June 25th, 2008 at 3:41 am - Permalink
[...] any action it can to have the ad removed from the Internet.” Uh huh. And now, suddenly, that ad is all over the internets. The whole thing smacks of mock outrage with a demand to takedown content knowing that it will only [...]
Mock Outrage Over An Ad You Paid For? Reverse Streisand Effect on June 25th, 2008 at 3:45 am - Permalink
I actually think it’s an agency’s duty to their client to try and create the best work for them. Sometimes it starts with a creative brief and sometimes it’s an agency initiated effort to make things happen.
Of course, this shouldn’t have been entered in the awards show, but that was the production company’s fault – not the agency.
Joe Jones on June 25th, 2008 at 11:20 am - Permalink
That’s BS.
No production company would have sumitted it without checking with the ad agency, unless the production company no longer wants to work with Saatchi.
Truth is Saatchi approved this ad for submission.
Roger Makak on June 26th, 2008 at 7:50 pm - Permalink