Last week we wrote about Anomaly and Huge’s new campaign for Kohl’s, which marked brand’s first Oscars sponsorship and included a 60-second spot making unexpected use of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s 1997 acceptance speech for winning best supporting actor for his role in Jerry Maguire.
Last night that spot made its broadcast debut during the Oscars, along with three additional ads employing the same acceptance speech schtick. The new spots feature a girl (who channels Whoopi Goldberg‘s 1990 acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress in Ghost) whose brother lets her sit in the front seat, a mom who gets invited to play “the duchess” at her daughter’s tea party (delivered as Penelope Cruz accepting her Best Supporting Actress award for Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and a boy thanking his parents for letting his friend Scott stay over (as Jeff Bridges accepting Best Actor for True Grit in 2010).
If you’ve already seen the previous spot, of course, you already know what to expect from the new ads, although the front seat scenario arguably feels a lot more natural than the movie night pick of its predecessor. If you liked the schtick the first time around, you’ll likely enjoy the follow-ups as well (although there’s certainly a saturation point, which Kohl’s arguably crossed last night) and if you didn’t, the new spots will do nothing to change your mind. Regardless of how you feel about the gimmick, however, the ads did get people talking about Kohl’s (whether positive or negative). And when’s the last time you could say that?