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Jul 01, 2008, 05:31AM

JC Penney A Lot Cooler Than We Thought

A JC Penney ad featuring nubile teenagers racing to get dressed won an awared at last week's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Seems like great publicity, except that department stores usually aren't in the business of endorsing surreptitious teen sex. The company has denied involvement with the ad, even though it's circulating like hotcakes on YouTube and has us talking about JC Penney for the first time in 10 years.

A racy viral ad created for JC Penney that took home a prestigious award from the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival last week has been blasted by the client and ordered removed from circulation, with the retailer livid that the spot -- which gives the impression JC Penney condones teen sex -- was produced without its consent.

Dubbed "Speed Dressing," the ad depicts two hormonally charged teens, at times in as little as their underwear, practicing how quickly they can get in and out of their clothes in order to have some frisky fun before a parent takes notice. The spot ends with the supertitle "Today's the day to get away with it."

"No one at JC Penney was aware of the ad or participated in the creation of it in any way," the retailer said in a statement. "The commercial was never broadcast, but rather was created by a former employee at JC Penney's advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, solely as an award submission without JC Penney's knowledge or prior approval."

And despite the retailer's wrath, some insiders insist the pair isn't headed for a break. JC Penney Chief Marketing Officer Mike Boylson told the Wall Street Journal it was having a "serious discussion" with the firm, but that the company's relationship with them "is beyond the scope of this one incident."

The ad:

Discussion
  • The denial could be part of the viral marketing strategy. This is generating a lot of buzz for a company that seemed to be dead.

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  • This is racy? Maybe 20 years ago, but this is tame stuff nowadays. JC Penney is nuts not to go with it, since their clothes suck and maybe this ad will con some gullible people.

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