“We focused on creating vignettes and working them into an idea that felt effortless,” said Matt Heath, the agency’s chief creative officer. “The goal is to present Men’s Wearhouse as a solution brand.”
The creatives leaned into a consumer insight that sees men stand up a little taller when they’re suddenly stylish. The video’s hero, for instance, is so enamored with his makeover that he sprints out of the store shouting, “I can do anything!”
“It’s a chest-puffing moment,” Heath said. “A guy puts on a suit, looks in the mirror, and there’s a new sense of confidence—we wanted to capture that and bring it to life.”
And as is typical of the Party Land oeuvre—evident in work for Liquid Death, Wholly Veggie and Dave’s Hot Chicken, to name a few—the connection between brand, product and emotion plays out in wacky ways. As a like-minded co-conspirator, the agency partnered with Tool of North America director Hannah Levy, a veteran of Saturday Night Live short films and former ADWEEK Creative 100 honoree.
‘I guarantee it’
Men’s Wearhouse had some comedic seeds buried in its past marketing, Heath said, so the sensibility just needed to be unearthed and refreshed.
“Comedy is not a one-size-fits-all proposition—there’s everything from sweet to outrageous,” said Heath, whose shop was a finalist for ADWEEK’s 2023 Breakthrough Agency of the Year. “It was important to find the right kind of comedy for Men’s Wearhouse.”
The chain, which opened its first stores in 1973, may be best known for the testimonials from its founder and former top executive. George Zimmer was front and center in long-running ads with the famous tagline, “You’re going to like the way you look—I guarantee it,” delivered in his trademark sandpapery baritone.
Zimmer, who published a memoir in 2021, left the brand after a dispute with the board in 2013, a forced departure that comedian Jimmy Kimmel likened to firing Santa Claus.
In more recent times, Men’s Wearhouse has focused on its formal clothing, featuring the romance of weddings and other such big events in commercials that felt “more solemn and emotional in nature,” Repicky said.
“We’ve seen success with that work, but we want to take ourselves less seriously,” he added. “This is a pretty big change.”