By: Neena Zona, Director of Business Affairs
The world’s largest retail store, Walmart, unveiled a new advertising campaign this Sunday during the Oscars. For the first time, Walmart partnered up with The Oscar’s as an official sponsor for “Hollywood’s biggest night”. With help from top Hollywood filmmakers, Antoine Fuqua, Marc Forster, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg, Walmart brought to life an idea that “every receipt tells a story”. Walmart stated that these were not advertisements but instead were to be seen as three 60-second “films”. These “films” were based around the items that are listed on someone’s receipt such as paper towels, bananas, wrapping paper, batteries, a video baby monitor, and a scooter.
“Every day, millions of families visit Walmart to save money and live better. The receipt they walk out the door with says something about their lives. It tells a story,” Walmart said in their official statement.
This whole campaign was based on the idea that shoppers can find everything that they could possibly need, all under one roof. Although some experts were confused by the partnership of a low-cost store and a glamorous awards show, I think that Walmart took home an Oscar of its own. Walmart’s team decided that they needed to do something different, they needed to take a risk, and they did just that.
With a night that brings in over 34 million viewers, Walmart definitely was able to reach a large audience. This audience is unlike those that the retailer typically markets toward. The factor that really made the campaign come full circle was that Walmart allowed for the four filmmakers to have complete control over how they made these short films. Walmart also pledged a $250,000 donation to the Academy Grants Program for FilmCraft to help continue the “the art of storytelling in the film”.
“Walmart receipts are inspirational because when you think about it, every receipt tells a really interesting story,” said Walmart’s chief marketing officer, Tony Rogers. “Who are these people? Why did they buy these items? What became of the items? This campaign is not only a great fit for an Oscars audience but one we hope we can build on in the future.”
If you missed the Oscars or Walmart’s short “films” check it out here.