JanSport Ads Mine Gen Z’s Everyday Lives for Comedy Gold

Consumer research shows that JanSport is considered a time-tested utility player and a staple of American student life—functional, ubiquitous and essential.

But what brand today wants to be on the receiving end of the sick burn, “ya basic,” even if it’s true?

JanSport, a legacy company in a jam-packed commodity category, has decided to lean into its mundanity, but with Generation-Z-targeted musical ads from a new agency partner known for its irreverent humor.

The work, the first from Los Angeles-based Party Land, breaks away from the brand’s locker room and schoolbooks heritage and heads into “beautifully unserious” territory with a newly launched social-first campaign, per Natalia Fredericks, the agency’s creative director.

“When a brand stumbles into iconic status, why shy away from that and try to be anything BUT that?” Fredericks told ADWEEK. “We focused on telling highly relatable stories in the everyday moments where our audience lives life.”

Instead of being strictly product-focused, the spots are more user-centric with a keen eye on “the unfiltered feelings and internal dialogues the demographic has within them,” Fredericks said.

‘Imperfect melodies’

Each ad is built around an original song that is seeming unrehearsed, tonally challenged and rough around the edges, which Fredericks described as “imperfect melodies, performed by our actors with a deadpan delivery directly to camera.”

Eight spots—all dropping at once on social platforms ahead of the critical back-to-school selling season—cover topics like personal space (or lack thereof), people pleasing and texting on the toilet via inner monologues made vulnerably public. And while romantic breakups, fear of flying, pet deaths and crow attacks seem like nothing to laugh about, they’re used here as jumping-off points for cheeky narratives.

There is data to back up the approach: 78% of Gen Z are more likely to share ads that they find humorous and relatable on social media, while 61% believe brands using humor in their advertising are more trustworthy, according to The Marketing Hustle. More broadly, 90% of people are more likely to remember ads that are funny and 72% say they would choose a humorous brand, per Oracle.

The ads, under the ongoing “Always With You” tagline, are intended to provide an antidote to the category norm, which tends toward aspirational positioning and polished images, Fredericks said. In addition to the spots, there will be out-of-home ads in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Denver and other major markets.

In-house experts

Party Land, which won the business in 2023, dug deep into its TikTok knowledge and tapped its young staffers for inspiration and personal experiences. That proved invaluable as the agency aims to “create resonance on a platform where trend cycles move at lightning speed.”

The campaign’s concept, which was included in the agency’s pitch for the account, “immediately stood out to us due to its authentic Gen Z appeal,” according to Alexandra Reveles, vice president of global brand for 57-year-old JanSport. “The idea is not only hilarious but also a true reflection of both JanSport and our consumer base.”

In a category “flooded with options,” the campaign’s goal is to “capture attention in a world where our consumers are constantly scrolling and tapping on their devices,” Reveles said. “We aim to provide a moment of laughter while keeping JanSport top of mind for their next purchase.”

The brand has experimented with comedy in the past via a 2021 campaign from R/GA called “Disorientation,” following a mental health-focused effort in 2020 called #LightenTheLoad with assists from agency Haymaker and producer Ruby Pseudo.