Mall creates back to school commercial that's so bad, it's good

ByLA Blake KFSN logo
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
(YouTube, Potatoflesh)
KFSN-KFSN

Back-to-school sales can get pretty competitive. So how's a shopping center to stand out? For East Hills Shopping Center in Missouri, the solution was as simple as this: a simple, intentionally lighthearted commercial that many viewers find so bad, they can't stop watching it.

The commercial features shoppers of various ages holding up things available for purchase from the mall while singing about them, including "backpacks," "denim" and scissors for "haircuts." Most of the singing in the commercial is, to put it nicely, not exactly Broadway-worthy. Reactions have been mixed, with some calling it the worse commercial ever and others calling it a genius marketing ploy.

Who knew "boots and pants and boots and pants" would be the next internet sensation? Not the ad's creators. The manager of the mall told ABC News that the mall intended for the commercial to be attention-grabbing, but had no idea it would go this viral. As of Wednesday morning, the video (posted on Sunday) has nearly 1.5 million views on YouTube.

Watch the spot above, and let us know in the comments: Do you like the commercial? Did it work--would you shop there?