No Need to Turn Back Time in Value City Furniture Campaign

Value City Furniture has a playful plea for people to make quality choices, a lot like the Grail Knight in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” All leading up to the brand’s annual Presidents’ Day promotions.

Jenn Tran, former Bachelorette and contestant on “Dancing With The Stars,” who knows a thing or two about high-pressure decisions has teamed up with Value City Furniture to share her takes on quality and what’s worth falling for when it comes to furniture. More content from Tran will roll out in the coming weeks across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook..

“Furniture is where life happens, but too often, it’s also where regret lingers,” shares Colle McVoy VP group brand strategy director, Ryan Damian.

Research from Consumer Affairs shows that positive reviews for major furniture brands have plummeted from 79% in 2011 to just 9% in 2022.

Over the past year, 89% of reviews for furniture companies were rated one star, driven by frustrations with poor quality, mismatched expectations and disappoint experiences. This dissatisfaction echoes across online forums where buyers lament bed frames that broke within months and $1,200 sofa’s that looked perfect in the store but clashed at home.

“One of my favorite things about being on the show floor from time to time is seeing consumers light up when they first interact with any of our products. I’ve even heard audible ‘wows,’” shared American Signature, Inc., CMO, Kelly Routhier. “Let me tell you, Value City Furniture is on a mission to help people find a quality choice in their furniture. If you’ve ever had furniture regret, you know you never want to go back in time to that feeling.”

According to Routhier, Value City Furniture is reporting customer calls about quality issues and damages are down 30% compared to the previous year.

The campaign hero made in-game Super Bowl debuts in 14 markets including Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Detroit, Indianapolis, Nashville, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Washington DC.

The formal launch happening this week will run across 22 markets.

Rewriting A Cher Classic For A Buyer’s Remorse Be Gone Beat

The campaign is the brand’s first effort with new creative AOR Colle McVoy.

“We wanted this new creative direction to highlight the superior quality of Value City Furniture products in juxtaposition to the not-so-quality options plaguing consumers,” says Colle McVoy group creative director, Lia Khayami Quinones. “Furniture is the hero here—and people get to see the day and night differences that come when choices made don’t live up to consumers’ expectations.”

Quinones noted that no other song options were considered beyond Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.” The song gives space for cinematic sweeps and classic deadpan physical comedy that’s whacky while being firmly rooted in real pain points people have regarding furniture. Around 15 versions of adapted lyrics were generated before landing on the final track.

The team reviewed almost 500 casting videos across Toronto and Los Angeles, looking for people who had the right balance between physicality and musical ability. In fact, one talent is actually a lead singer in a band.

Similar to a certain Ozian classic, most audio for the hero work was recorded live. Production took place in three different homes in the Toronto suburbs.

From getting an old couch to swallow a man whole to a recliner that launches a woman out a window—intense coordination was necessary to capture the comedic timing with the music across all practical effects.