There are a few ways to approach Black Friday commercials. You can go all heartwarming in the spirit of the season. You can go heavy on the sale specs. Or you can get George Takei to sing an epic power ballad promoting an epic sale with an epic name.
Old Navy wholeheartedly embraces the latter strategy with a 60-second spot from Crispin Porter + Bogusky that broke Sunday night during the American Music Awards. In it, Mr. Sulu takes to the microphone and belts out an exuberant and heartfelt (if not quite on key) rendition of Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," reimagined here as "I Don't Wanna Miss a Deal." The song, of course, is from the 1998 movie Armageddon—likewise, the theme of Old Navy's 2012 Black Friday sale is "Cheermageddon," which the company is characterizing as the "most epically friendly sale ever," which apparently means it won't stress you out inordinately or cause you to get trampled mercilessly by fellow deal-seekers. (This is because the deals are spread out over a number of days—and because Thursday's big "doorbusters" are staggered throughout the day, though they will begin, surely somewhat stressfully, at midnight.)
The spot is suitably over the top. You've got the control room/music studio; the nerdy engineer band; the cheesy dancing and jumping and showing off the clothes; and loads of absurd mock-interplanetary goofiness, including a snowball asteroid, from which only Old Navy's performance fleece can save you. Scrooges would call it Forced Cheermageddon, though it fits in perfectly with Old Navy's existing cartoon world of light irony writ large in bold, bright colors.
Takei is himself a cartoon character, perfectly ludicrous for the role. As usual in commercials, he's seen here (mostly) in a white lab coat, and surprised no one when he delivers his trademark and (probably contractually obligated) "Oh my!" at the end. Old Navy is reinventing precisely nothing here, and having a fun time doing it.
The spot is backed by a more hardworking :30, in which Takei and his nerds run down some of the specific deals. CP+B also created the campaign site at cheermageddon.com.
CREDITS
Client: Old Navy
Spot: "I Don't Want to Miss a Deal"
Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Partner, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer: Rob Reilly
Executive Creative Director: Jason Gaboriau
Creative Directors: Robin Fitzgerald, Cameron Harris
Senior Copywriter: Gerard Seifert
Senior Copywriter (Spanish): Jorge Ortega
Senior Art Director: Cerra Buckholz
Copywriter: Rachel Carlson
Art Director: Patricia Ortiz
Director of Video Production: Chad Hopenwasser
Executive Integrated Producer (Music): Bill Meadows
Executive Integrated Producer: Deb Drumm
Junior Integrated Producers: Jackie Maloney, Kelli Espinoza
Executive Business Affairs Manager: Amy Jacobsen
Production Company: Smuggler, Hollywood, Calif.
Directors: Randy Krallman, Tobias Perse
Production Company, Executive Producers/Partners: Brian Carmody, Patrick Milling Smith
Production Company, Executive Producer/Chief Operating Officer: Lisa Rich
Production Company, Executive Producers: Allison Kunzman, Laura Thoel
Production Company, Head of Production: Andrew Colon
Line Producer: Cory Berg
Editorial Company: Cut & Run, Santa Monica, Calif.
Head of Production, Senior Producer: Christie Price
Executive Producer: Carr Schilling
Editor: Frank Effron
Assistant Editor: Susan Kim
Postproduction Company: Method, Santa Monica, Calif.
Executive Producer: Robert Owens
Producer: Colin Clarry
Lead Compositor: Kelly Bumbarger
Set Supervisor: Rob Hodgson
Visual Effects Supervisor: Jason Schugardt
Music Company: Search Party, Portland, Ore.
Music Company Producers: Sara Matarazzo, Genevieve Vincent
Composer: Nicholas Wright
Partner, Managing Director: Steve Erich
Group Content Director: Danielle Whalen
Content Director: Kate Higgins
Content Management Supervisor: Joselyn Bickford
Content Supervisors: Charissa Kinney, Georgette Young
Content Managers: Kristin Obi, Michelle Forbush, Tommy Cottam
Cognitive Anthropologists: Lindsey Allison, Jennifer Hruska
Client: Old Navy
Spot: "Cheermageddon"
Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Partner, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer: Rob Reilly
Executive Creative Director: Jason Gaboriau
Creative Directors: Robin Fitzgerald, Cameron Harris
Senior Copywriter: Gerard Seifert
Senior Copywriter (Spanish): Jorge Ortega
Senior Art Director: Cerra Buckholz
Copywriter: Rachel Carlson
Art Director: Patricia Ortiz
Director of Video Production: Chad Hopenwasser
Executive Integrated Producer (Music): Bill Meadows
Executive Integrated Producer: Deb Drumm
Junior Integrated Producers: Jackie Maloney, Kelli Espinoza
Executive Business Affairs Manager: Amy Jacobsen
Production Company: Smuggler, Hollywood, Calif.
Directors: Randy Krallman, Tobias Perse
Production Company, Executive Producers/Partners: Brian Carmody, Patrick Milling Smith
Production Company, Executive Producer/Chief Operating Officer: Lisa Rich
Production Company, Executive Producers: Allison Kunzman, Laura Thoel
Production Company, Head of Production: Andrew Colon
Line Producer: Cory Berg
Editorial Company: Cut & Run, Santa Monica, Calif.
Head of Production, Senior Producer: Christie Price
Executive Producer: Carr Schilling
Editor: Frank Effron
Assistant Editor: Susan Kim
Postproduction Company: Method, Santa Monica, Calif.
Executive Producer: Robert Owens
Producer: Colin Clarry
Lead Compositor: Kelly Bumbarger
Set Supervisor: Rob Hodgson
Visual Effects Supervisor: Jason Schugardt
Music Company: Search Party, Portland, Ore.
Music Company, Producers: Sara Matarazzo, Genevieve Vincent
Composer: Nicholas Wright
Partner, Managing Director: Steve Erich
Group Content Director: Danielle Whalen
Content Director: Kate Higgins
Content Management Supervisor: Joselyn Bickford
Content Supervisors: Charissa Kinney, Georgette Young
Content Managers: Kristin Obi, Michelle Forbush, Tommy Cottam
Cognitive Anthropologists: Lindsey Allison, Jennifer Hruska