If you’ll recall, last week we posted a viral video from late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon, along with his buddy Justin Timberlake who performed a sketch ridiculing people who used hashtags.
The central premise of the sketch was to show how ridiculous people would look if they used hashtags in real life conversations. Clearly, whoever’s doing digital marketing for clothing store JC Penney missed the point and then tried to cash in on the buzz surrounding the viral video by making one of their own. Except the two girls in the video are shilling a sale at JC Penney while unironically mimicking Fallon and Timberlake’s speech and actions. They urge you to say the words “hashtag offer” at a JC Penney checkout counter to receive a $10-25 discount on your purchase.
#NotFunny. #NotCool. #FacePalm.
Apart from the fact that these may be the only two people who still shop at JC Penney, the video is low budget (and not in a cool, DIY viral video way,) the acting is cringeworthy and the intent is so blatantly cynical, it’s just painful to watch.
Here is the accompanying tweet it sent out about the offer. #YOLO? Really? I almost feel bad for how out of touch they sound.
Have you heard? #HashtagOffer #TodayOnly #YOLO #NotQuittingOurDayJobs http://t.co/2L6qh3eU77
— jcpenney (@jcpenney) October 2, 2013
Stop trying to be cool JC Penney.
UPDATE: Looks like the bad press being received by JC Penney over this video finally made it realize how stupid this whole hashtag idea was. It has since made the video private. It still has a Vine about the promotion you can catch here. It has a picture of a unicorn.
