The gift-giving season, which arrives with the same surprise every year as a birthday, has inspired another round of advertising designed to make the annual retail transaction feel like something grander.
Kay Jewelers, the mall-based chain that has long specialized in moments of sentimental exchange, has enlisted Colin Jost, the "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update anchor, for a holiday campaign that frames the search for a present as an epic journey. In the spot, created by The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., Mr. Jost appears bearded and robed, trudging through a blizzard in what the brand describes as a visual homage to Homer's "Odyssey." His quest ends, as these quests tend to, at a silver necklace.
The campaign represents a shift for Kay, which has historically focused its holiday advertising on the recipient of the gift — the moment of unwrapping, the teary embrace, the implied lifetime of devotion. This time, the brand turns its attention to the giver, and specifically to the anxiety that accompanies the selection process. The American Psychological Association, in a survey conducted last year, found that 40 percent of respondents cited gift selection as a significant source of seasonal stress. (One imagines the other 60 percent simply forward an Amazon wish list.)
"The holidays often bring pressure to find the perfect gift," said Julie Yoakum, president of Kay, "but we want to remind shoppers that the most meaningful gifts come from expressing how you feel."
The work extends a brand platform called Love All In, which Kay introduced this fall as part of a broader effort to update its tone. The message, as the brand frames it, is that grand gestures deserve a revival — though in this case, the grandest gesture still concludes at a jewelry counter, which is, after all, the point.
The campaign begins running this week across television, streaming and the usual digital outposts.
Original story published in Adweek: "Kay Sends Colin Jost on a Gift-Seeking Odyssey for the Holiday Season"