Dive Brief:
- Continuing with its inclusivity efforts, Old Navy on Tuesday debuted its "Happy All-idays" campaign, which aims to celebrate multiple holiday traditions.
- The company is inviting people of various backgrounds, ethnicities and cultural heritages that want to portray Santa to participate in a 30-minute online training course and audition at a casting to appear at its stores in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago on Dec. 4. It has also enlisted Keke Palmer to appear in two TV spots and a diverse group of social media influencers to participate in its social media campaign.
- The brand has also expanded its range of Jingle Jammies. Last year Old Navy introduced the product featuring Santa in three different skin tones; this year, the brand added products featuring new prints, like menorahs, rainbow stripes and more, according to the announcement.
Dive Insight:
Before and during the holiday season, Old Navy and its sister company, Gap, have released more inclusive campaigns. In August, Old Navy did away with its separate plus-size section and began offering women's styles for 0 to 30 and XS to 4X in one area as part of its Bodequality initiative. Gap last month introduced its "All Together Now" campaign focusing on love, kindness, individuality and inclusivity.
Old Navy's attention to diverse Santas also comes amid a widespread labor shortage, which the Wall Street Journal reports is the reason behind the Santa shortage. Though the National Retail Federation predicts retailers will hire between 500,000 and 665,000 seasonal employees, an increase from 486,000 last year.
In Old Navy's announcement, the brand cited America's shifting demographics as the motivator for soliciting more diverse Santas.
"We have reimagined the holidays this year to celebrate the diversity of our customers through our All-iday campaign," Jamie Gersch, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Old Navy, said in a statement. "Inclusivity is core to our Old Navy values and is represented in the products we create, how they come to life, the people we work with and how we run our business. We can't wait to see and share our customers' All-iday celebrations."