Balenciaga x The Simpsons

In promotion of its Spring/Summer 2022 collection, Balenciaga recently partnered with The Simpsons and debuted a 10-minute mini-episode for a cross-brand collaboration that featured the entire family.

Not too long ago, the high-end fashion brand was receiving mixed reviews after releasing its layered and double-waisted sweatpants resembling a pair of baggy pants–sagging just low enough to reveal a peek of the boxer pattern. From cultural appropriation to for the culture, Balenciaga’s latest advertisement is certainly giving us luxury fashion meets nostalgic living room comfort–in a good way.

Why It Works

Although both brands have their own unique audience, each one remained authentic to self while showing it can still play nicely with others. From the hefty $19,000 Balenciaga dress tag price to the well-known procrastinating nature of Homer Simpson, the essence of each entity was captured quite tastefully.

“How to Reach Them. What Does It Take?”

During one point of the mini video, Balenciaga decides that he would like to rescue the “style deprived”, so he visited Springfield, Illinois. Desperate to connect with them and get people excited about going to Paris, he questions how to reach his new audience and what it takes. With quick thinking, he says, “They are opening up a new KFC on the Champs-Èlyseés.”

There comes a time where almost every marketer or advertiser thinks they have a firm grasp of how to capture the attention of their audience… and then things change. Maybe they have matured and the traditional way of doing things is just getting old. Maybe the biggest conversation-starters are now more progressive and controversial. Whatever it is, the responsibility is ours to break that communication barrier. One of the ways this ad successfully achieves this is through the progression of their character, Mr. Waylon Smithers.

Since the Simpson first aired on December 17, 1989, we knew that Mr. Smithers, a character that has been on the show since it first aired, was not the same as everyone else in Springfield. The Simpsons used this ad as an opportunity to carve out a breakthrough moment for Mr. Smithers when he was given the option to choose his own outfit. The world watched him select a red, feminine ensemble inspired by Balenciaga’s Spring 2020 collection, Look 99.

Real People

There are two kinds of people in this world: those that collect material items and those that collect experiences.

After hearing Marge’s story, Balenciaga was so moved that he was determined to feature “real people” in his show. But who are real people? Are they rich? Are they skinny? What do they value? Real people have feelings. Real people love. As the Balenciaga magazine advertisement read, ” Love is for everyone,” it made me realize that love, in this case, was less of a feeling and more of an experience. It wasn’t the dress, the fashion show, or the city of Paris that made the moment special. It was simply the magic of being immersed into the moment itself. That is what can make a consumer feel loved.

This reminds me of a popular quote from Maya Angelou:

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”