WTF Department: Breakfast Club Ad

During a recent foray to the theater, STK and I saw the following ad as part of the pre-previews advertisements.

Graduating high school in 1986, The Breakfast Club film is one of those popular culture artifacts that defined my teen years. The movie didn't do much for me during the original theatrical run, but I remember the buzz. Jodi, a high school party buddy, absolutely LOVED the film and rented it at every freakin' opportunity. In fact, I think The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, etc probably mean more to me today, at 40, than they did at 17.

So, when this JC Penney ad started to play my mind went on a quick trip to yesteryear, which is exactly what the advertisers intended, I'm sure. Halfway through, though, it struck me: the young people in this ad, the presumed targets of a JC Penney back to school advertising campaign, weren't even a twinkle in anybody's eye when The Breakfast Club hit the theaters. I guarantee that the reference to the film is lost on 90% of the teen viewers. I leaned over the STK and said: "WTF? Isn't it kind of weird marketing 80s cool to young people? Do they really think advertising to parents is going to force them to drag their kid to JC Penney for back to school shopping? Whoever put this ad together must have forgotten what it's like to be a teen. You never shop where your parents want you to shop. Lame."

Imagine my surprise when I noticed the following media critique posted on MSNBC.com.

Here’s the first problem with the campaign: "The Breakfast Club" came out 23 years ago, several years before this season’s back-to-school shoppers were even born. While it can be fun to go retro, we have to wonder whether some people who see the ad simply won’t get the reference.

Second, JCPenney apparently doesn’t truly get the reference, either. The core message of "The Breakfast Club" -- that it’s OK to be weird and different, and that, in fact, most people are weird and different at heart -- goes squarely against the idea of going to a big department store and buying mass-produced clothes that make you look just like every other kid in America.

Amen to that, sister. Look, I have nothing against JC Penney. JC Penney is the only major department store in our particular corner of the Corn Furnace and much of my work wardrobe--dress shirts, Dockers, etc--has been purchased there. I actually like the commercial, too. I wax nostalgic every time I see it (it's now running on numerous television networks) and wonder what happened to many of my quirky high school friends. Still, I don't think this commercial would motivate me to drag my teen down to the store in hopes of reliving those days of yesteryear.