Once upon a time, Old Navy commercials were generally accepted as wonderful. They were bright, colorful, kitschy, silly and instantly recognizable. But eventually, as these things go, they got old. The public moved on, while Old Navy, with its mannequins and goofy taglines, remained stuck in the 2000s.
Since the retailer split with Crispin Porter + Bogusky last summer, though, its advertising—from Chandelier Creative in New York—has experienced a bit of a revival. First, there was the Black Friday ad with the delightful Melissa McCarthy. Then, last month, it was a spot featuring comedian Debra Wilson as an overexcited TSA agent. Now, Old Navy is debuting a new campaign starring yet another female comic, national treasure Amy Poehler.
The first 30-second spot, "Meet the Pixie Pant," has Poehler playing a wacky lawyer who interviews a potential job candidate. But rather than discussing, you know, lawyer stuff, Poehler becomes fixated on the interviewee's outfit—a pair of skinny blue gingham pants and white T-shirt (which, cuteness notwithstanding, probably isn't the most appropriate ensemble for an interview at a law firm)—and proceeds to ask her a bunch of bizarre questions about them. After learning that the pants were just $25 and the shirt free with purchase, Poehler gives the young woman the job and dashes out to Old Navy.
In a second, extended version of the spot, we get some more riffing from Poehler on her pants obsession ("Would it be weird if I got the same ones? And we wore them on the same day? And we went to the beach together?"), her law firm ("You know what we do here? We represent cats in criminal trials") and the job requirements ("You do some light housekeeping? Great, because I live in a lighthouse and it's filthy").
Admittedly, none of this is exactly groundbreaking, and if the star were anyone but Poehler, it might even be forgettable. But Poehler, who also helped write the spots, gives a deadpan performance that's hard not to love. She's proven capable of making average material seem much better than it actually is (Season 1 of Parks and Recreation, anyone?), and she works that same magic here.
And magic is something Old Navy sorely needs.
CREDITS
Client: Old Navy
Agency: Chandelier Creative
Creative Directors: Richard Christiansen, Lena Kuffner
Managing Director: Sara Fisher
Art Director: Michael Scanlon
Writer: Matt Murray
Producer: Jill Andresevic
Production Company: Caviar Content
Director: Jonathan Krisel
Executive Producers: Michael Sagol, Jasper Thomlinson
Line Producer: Eric Escott
Director of Photography: Christian Sprenger
Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Carlos Arias
Assistant Editor: Alex Liu
Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum
Head of Production: Justin Kumpata
Post Producer: Lisa Barnable
Telecine: Color Collective
Colorist: Alex Bickel
Producer: Claudia Guevara
Audio Post: Sonic Union
Mixer: Mike Marinelli
Assistant Mixer: Pat Sullivan
Visual Effects Studio: Rock Paper Scissors
2-D Visual Effects Artist: Edward Reina
Producer: Melanie Gagliano
Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum