What: Old Navy will debut a Old Navy Ads">new ad campaign on TV this week – the stars of it are creepy female mannequins (or “SuperModelquins”) that range from a divorced mom to a single and ready to mingle gal. The struggling retailer is trying to refocus its branding and bring back its tongue in cheek advertising style (remember Magic the dog?) from the 90s, all the while shouting out the value of its clothing.

What They Say:

“It is a bit polarizing. Some of us loved it and some of us liked it. Some of us were confused,” he [Tom Wyatt, Old Navy’s president] said. “But if you look back at Old Navy at its best … we were always a bit quirky and different.”

What We Say: When the going gets tough, you gotta go back to the beginning and ask yourself – how did you become so successful in the first place? It seems that’s what Old Navy is doing here and we think that if the retailer focuses entirely on its target consumer, the budget and fashion savvy woman, stop trying to be an unstylish Forever 21, they might just make it through this challenging retail environment. Hey, we’re all about the value that Old Navy offers and we’d hate to see the retailer go up in smoke because it’s lost its identity.