There are worse fates than being visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve, and one of them is being asked to sell express delivery while wearing period costume.
Walmart, the discount retailer that is part of the retail industry in much the same way the ocean is part of the fishing industry, has teamed up with Disney and the Muppets Studio for a holiday campaign that reimagines the 1992 film "The Muppet Christmas Carol." The effort, called "A Who Knew Carol," debuted on Saturday and represents the latest installment of Walmart's "Who Knew?" platform, which has featured the actor Walton Goggins as a kind of perpetually bemused everyman discovering the retailer's offerings.
In this version of the Dickens tale, Mr. Goggins plays Ebenezer Scrooge, though one suspects his miserliness will prove more curable than the original's. The ghosts who visit him have been updated for the omnichannel age: the Ghost of Christmas Presents, the Ghost of Deals to Come, and the Ghost of Christmas Fast, each representing a different aspect of Walmart's holiday capabilities. (The Ghost of Christmas Fast, one imagines, wears comfortable shoes.)
The Muppets, who have been lending their felt-and-foam gravitas to commercial enterprises since well before many current advertising executives were born, appear alongside Mr. Goggins in what the retailer is positioning as an ensemble effort.
The campaign arrives as retailers begin their annual competition for holiday spending, a period that seems to begin earlier each year and end approximately never. Walmart, which has made Mr. Goggins a recurring presence in its advertising, appears to be betting that a familiar face combined with familiar puppets will cut through the seasonal noise.
Whether Scrooge finds redemption by the final frame seems less in doubt than whether he finds free two-day shipping.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Walmart Brings The Muppets and Walton Goggins Together For Its Own Holiday Carol"