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Library/Campaign/Kmart “Ship My Pants”
Grade B19 sourcesHIS-01602

Kmart “Ship My Pants”

Campaign · 2013 · Notable

45Editable slideCertificate

YouTube’s year-end list put Kmart’s shipping-service pun at 20.1 million views.

Original · Kmart / Draftfcb Chicago
Clip · hronay on Vimeo
SMP 34
hronay on Vimeo
Ship My Pants
Kmart on YouTube

Spread Score

How it works
Reach52Contagion35Breadth40Velocity63Longevity3545

Numbers

Earned media impressions; creative director’s undated claim
1B
Self-reported · Howie Ronay
Seed to milestone
2 weeks
Apr 10 ’13 to Apr 25 ’13
Platforms
6
Started on YouTube
Leverage
2.0×
$1.4M on $700K media spend

Mechanics

  • Catchphrase
  • Controversy
  • TransgressionPrimary
  • Platform jump
  • Press loop

How it spread

Trace the origin

Kmart posted Ship My Pants on YouTube, promoted it on Twitter and bought TV airtime. News coverage, sharing and complaints followed. It prompted Big Gas Savings and a Christmas version. The campaign team claimed higher Store-to-Home sales; brand tracking remained weak.

Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.

Google searchesMar ’13AprMayJunAugOctDecJan ’14MilestoneYouTubePressTVOpen webFacebookRetail
YouTubePressTVOpen webFacebookRetail

13 more events on this chart

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Timeline (16)

  1. April 2013

    Kmart / Draftfcb Chicago seed · Apr 10 ’13

    Kmart posted the ad on YouTube before a promoted tweet on April 11.[1][2]

    Ship My Pants
    Open the first post ↗

  2. CBS Pittsburgh press · Apr 12 ’13

    CBS Pittsburgh covered the ad while its YouTube counter was still near 200,000 views.[3][4]

  3. NBC Today platform jump · Apr 12 ’13

    Today devoted a segment to the ad and asked Facebook viewers whether it was funny or offensive.[4]

  1. platform jump · Apr 18 ’13

  2. backlash · Apr 18 ’13

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Why it worked

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Origin
Mixed
Sector
Retail
Region
US
Earned media impressions; creative director’s undated claim
1B
Self-reported · Howie Ronay
Evidence
Grade B

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