The Sport Of Shopping. Really?

April 9, 2012 by
The Sport Of Shopping. Really?
Advertising ● Fashion ● Media ● Shopping ● Sports ● Television

If we are to buy into Kohl’s tag line, this is a brand that promises us to “expect great things”. Well, they have fallen short of great and confused us, to say the least, with their new spring marketing campaign “Shop to Win”, which features female Olympians Dara Torres (swimming), Mia Hamm (soccer) and Lindsey Vonn (skiing). While we have enormous respect and admiration for these three world class female athletes, we are caught somewhere between hiding behind a pillow and shouting “are you kidding me?” when we see their new commercials for Kohl’s. Here’s why…

We’ve seen each of the 3 TV spots: one features Dara (winner of 14 national championships; 12 time Olympic medalist and the first U.S. swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games), the other Lindsey (American alpine ski racer on the U.S. Ski Team; winner of four World Cup championships; first American woman to win the gold medal in downhill skiing; winner of five consecutive World Cup season titles in downhill; etc.) and the last Mia (scored more international goals in her career than any other player, male or female, in the history of U.S. soccer; member of the women’s national team from 1987-2004, during which Team USA won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics; National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee).

In each commercial, as their impressive sports titles run across the screen, one of the three women is looking directly into the camera, as she describes some variation of her “in the zone” focus, surge of adrenaline, rush of accomplishment and/or emotional victory of “scoring”. You assume they are each talking about their respective experiences with sports, but the punch line is that they are actually delivering these lines to describe their experiences with… shopping.

In Kohl’s own press release announcing the campaign, Julie Gardner, Kohl’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer is quoted as saying, “The campaign depicts shopping as a sport and captures the emotion felt when women search for, and find, great deals for themselves and their families.”

Really Kohl’s? Are you honestly trying to position shopping as a “women’s sport” and attempting to compare the competitive thrill that a disciplined and dedicated athlete experiences after achieving Olympic victory to the emotion that you claim women experience after finding a deal on a “leopard print bag at Kohl’s”? We’re sad for how that demeans the training and performance of these world class athletes as their shopping skills seem to be getting as much glory as their athletic prowess. But, our expressed opinion on the matter has to then go hand in hand with us being equally confused as to why these female Olympians would even sign-up to be a part of this campaign and the message it is promoting. Maybe Dara, Lindsey and Mia really do love bargain shopping as much as the sports they have devoted their lives to? That’s certainly what the commercials want us to believe… we’re just not buying that these particular women do.

What we do like about the campaign is that it shows the strength and femininity of women athletes. This is not something you see very often in advertising or the media. But, the whole “women who shop to win” theme just rubs us the wrong way. Sure, shopping can be fun, especially when you find a deal and save money in the process, but not all women like to do it, despite prevailing stereotypes. More importantly, shopping is NOT a sport and we find it a little ridiculous that a major brand is trying to position it as some sort of competitive activity in which women are physically and emotionally charged up about participating.

What do you think?

  • Ellie

    I totally agree with WYSK. How can you compare the thrill of winning a championship with shopping? Most of us only go shopping “when we have to” because it is a tedious and tiring experience. These three women have worked all of their lives to excel at their sport, and they did so because they wanted to, not because they “had” to. I, too, question why they even agreed to do this commercial.

  • Thya S.

    These women have done themselves and the rest of us a disservice. I am not against them being in commercials for Kohl’s, but the way they are undermining their own achievements in these ads, for something as silly as shopping, is just really disappointing.

  • Julie K

    I’ve seen this commercials and they make me cringe… REALLY BAD ADVERTISING!

  • Keebs70

    I just saw the Lindsey commercial for the first time and I thought it was laughable. I applaud her as an athlete but not as a pitch woman in this context and with this silly message.

  • Beth K

    Disappointing all around

  • Brenda Berkman

    Couldn’t these women athletes object to the message of this campaign –
    the denigration of the dedication and accomplishments of women athletes?
    Boo Kohls!! Thank you WYSK for raising this issue.

  • Winnie

    What disturbs me is that no one mentions the big number of really shopping “addicted”women who can`t stop it to spend more and more money on shopping . They really describe the feeling with ” feel the rush” – “getting excited” when they are shopping. Is it this what Kohl`s wants to aim on those people who have a problem? That ad is unbelievable stupid.
    2nd: It looks like you don`t need to become an olympic champ or other achievements in life any more just buy the next shopping bag and look nice – that`s all you need as a woman – leave other things up to the men . Well done Kohl`s ! I hope there is a kind of award for the lousiest ad in a year. You have my vote for that.

    • KT

      What she said!

  • brent nowostawski

    are you kidding me ?? really ?? this isn’t a documentary about world peace. its a light hearted commercial for a store. i think if you ran a poll , you would see that more women like to shop than men. that would be my guess anyway. and so what ? theres things men like more than women do. i would understand a kindergartener coming to these conclusions. the reason its so funny is that it is so absurd and far-fetched. wow , its a funny comercial for god’s sakes. why would anybody take it so serious ?
    i just saw a commercial with a pro baseball player having trouble setting up his voice mail. is that belittling his achievements on the field ? are we suppose to think he really can’t set up his voice mail ? no , its a funny commercial. i applaud kohl’s and their ad agency for coming up with this brilliant funny commercial. the athletes look like they’re having a good time…..its a cvommercial.

    • CaffeineFree

      Um… how did this become about men? No one said anything about men.

      And in your apples to oranges comparison, I bet the voice mail commercial with the pro baseball player you saw didn’t have him personally describing his difficulty with setting up his voice mail to be as great as the difficulty he has fielding a ball, hitting a home run or winning the World Series.

      You seriously missed the boat on this one, sir.

  • amy

    One more advertisement for the hall of shame that is well documented at http://www.msmagazine.com/nocommentarchive.asp and http://www.about-face.org/gallery-of-offenders/archive-of-offenders/gallery-8/1-2/

    There are advertisers that do portray women in a positive light. See some of them at
    http://www.about-face.org/gallery-of-winners/top-ten-winners/1-2/