Ad of the Day: Hanes

Stupid sight gags never go out of style, particularly when they involve kittens.

That appears to be the solid thinking behind the new Hanes spot from The Martin Agency (and MJZ director Rocky Morton), in which the softness of the brand's ComfortBlend T-shirts is likened to that of the silky fur of kittens. The comparison, though, is made in the most outlandish way possible—by showing a goofy Chris Elliott type who prefers to actually wear a handful of fluffy kittens instead of a shirt, much to the consternation of his Hanes-pushing friends.

The spot has suitably moronic buddy banter to match the premise, and overall is amusing enough—and it takes an even more absurd turn when Mr. Kittens suggests asking longtime Hanes spokesman Michael Jordan what he thinks of the kittens shirt. Jordan, looking puffier than ever, suddenly ambles into the scene, offers a perfunctory and dismissive "Dude. Wow," and exits. "But I got it off SkyMall," the crestfallen kittens guy says.

Wearing cats has become a thing in advertising lately—as previously noted with the cat boots in the spot for Temptations cat treats. They're not just for herding anymore.

CREDITS

Client: Hanes

Spot: "Kittens"

Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.

Executive Creative Director: Joe Alexander

Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Nancy Hannon

Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Andrew Goldin

Senior Art Director: Mauricio Mazzariol

Senior Vice President, Group Planning Director: Fritz Kuhn

Senior Strategic Planner: Dalynn Kincannon

Account Supervisor: Carrie Bird

Vice President, Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Souter

Agency Junior Producer: Amy Marek

Production Company: MJZ

Director: Rocky Morton

Director of Photography: Bill Pope

Executive Producer: Scott Howard

Producer: Donald Taylor

Editorial Company: Beast

Editor: Jim Ulbrich

Assistant Editor: Tripp McCarty

Post Facility: Framestore

Telecine: Company 3

Colorist: Tom Poole

Visual Effects Company: Framestore

Visual Effects Supervisor: David Hulin

2-D Lead: Maryanne Butler

Paint, Roto: Sabrina Tenore, Alex Ling, Jesse Spielman

Producer: Graham Dunglinson

Executive Producer: James Razzall

Audio Post Company: Rainmaker

Engineers: Jeff McManus, Mike O'Connor

Mixer: Jeff McManus

Music: Stock

Composer/Arranger:

Sound Design Company: Rainmaker

Sound Designer: Jeff McManus

Actors: Michael Jordan, Elisha Yaffe, Charlie Finn, Coronado Romero

Voiceover: Hubert Point DuJour