Part of doing Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years “properly” is reflecting on how they’ve been done before, a cultural habit that primes everybody for Memory Lane. That’s why the holidays are a perfect time to bang out some pop culture nostalgia, wrap a tagline around it and call it an ad.
Under year-old slogan “The Magic of Macy’s” (JWT/NY), Macy’s cashes in on these sentiments by leveraging its long brand history. Check out this patchwork quilt of “Macy’s” mentions in movies and shows like Charlie Brown, Family Guy, Seinfeld, I Love Lucy and Miracle on 34th Street (which I watched every Christmas as a kid!), among others.
Couch classics aren’t the only memories blossoming out of the :60 piece, which appeared during the season premier of Desperate Housewives. (High-five on the media buy!) I also recalled other brands that used the same tactic — and were likely rewarded with the same emotional impact: AmEx’s celebrity cardholders, the Emmy Award’s mashed-up TV stars, Visa’s Olympic tributes, and Apple’s “Hello?” montage for iPhone.
But few brands are as old or as significant to consumer life as Macy’s has been. Few could compile a generations-spanning collage from direct mentions of their own brand. So here’s to an institution in consumer relevance.
