Yes, you can Ship Your Pants. That’s the message KMart wanted to get across, though their unique wording made us all giggle. You’ve probably seen it or heard of it, but KMart made a viral sensation with their ‘ship my pants’ campaign. The ad released last week, has over 16 million views, and that number keeps rising. If you haven’t seen it, check out the video here:
So why was this so popular? First, the ad made us laugh. With an opening line of “Ship my pants? Right here? Ship my pants, you’re kidding,” viewers stay tuned to find out who else has shipped their pants…and those jokes kept coming. KMart used humor to catch our attention for their new free shipping feature. Humor is something that is difficult for many Internet video production companies, because it can sometimes fall flat.
Second, the ad was controversial. One Million Moms, a conservative Christian group, called for the ad to be pulled off of the air. That made the video even more viral, as it caused people to want to know what all the fuss was about.
Third, the ad’s immaturity made us all want to share the video. I didn’t want to laugh, and while I didn’t ship my pants per se watching it, I did crack a smile. The ad plays on our juvenile need to laugh at these types of jokes and send to a friend that will also snicker with us.
Will the ad work? KMart’s online video production team seems to think so, but in the end we’ll have to wait to see if KMart’s sales go up. However, the fact that they played with humor, though controversial, appealing to all of our immaturity made for a viral hit.
