A season-long series instead of a one-off ad
Menswear brand Bonobos launched its fall campaign around “The Weekday Warrior Show,” an episodic series running across its digital and social channels all season. It stars Jack Quaid, known for Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” and the film “Companion.” It’s an exercise in episodic brand content that carries both product and brand tone.
“Jack brings such a unique personality and is able to represent that person who can be calm in the midst of the storm of the workday chaos, but doing it in a way that is completely effortless, which ties to the product,” said CMO Joe Berean.
How the series works
In the first episode, Quaid dubs himself the “weekday warrior consultant,” a nod to the best-selling Weekday Warrior Pant, which Berean describes as having the polish of a dress pant and the comfort of a chino. Quaid breaks the fourth wall and cracks jokes while praising the product. A laugh track and office setting borrow classic sitcom tropes, and real Bonobos employees appear for authenticity. When a colleague says he has to build eight decks in the next hour, Quaid quips, “Call a carpenter, am I right?”
Future episodes will feature the Weekday Warrior Dress Shirt, Jetsetter Dress Shirt, Everyday Oxford Shirt, Unconstructed Blazer and Knit Blazer.
Social-first, and cuttable
The series is “architected to be digital first, with a high focus on social, but in a way that can be appreciated and enjoyed episodically or through the more bite-sized content pieces that we know perform so well through a lot of our paid media channels,” Berean said. It ultimately drives viewers to Bonobos’ website, which will host video and supplemental content. Berean sees consumers responding to entertainment content from brands.
Where the brand stands
Founded in 2007 as a direct-to-consumer pioneer, Bonobos was bought and later sold by Walmart. In 2024, it and parent Express were bought out of bankruptcy by Phoenix Retail, a joint venture of Simon Property Group, Brookfield Properties, Centennial and WHP Global. It now runs 48 U.S. guideshops, has a distribution partnership with Nordstrom and will soon relaunch on Shopify. This year it has worked with Nicholas Braun, reality stars and podcast hosts to reinforce a “wry smile” positioning — humor with an edge.
Lessons for marketers
- Plan a season, not a spot: one episode per product showcases a whole collection over months.
- Make long and short versions: episodes build fans; short clips become paid media creative.
- Show tone through character: the “wry smile” positioning comes alive in the actor’s delivery.
Compare Express returning to its Y2K heyday, from the same parent company, and Cadbury’s campaign pairing a hero spot with an episodic comedy series to see different ways brands borrow entertainment formats.