Best Buy is employing some star power to fortify its television advertising for the holidays with the likes of actors Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph.
But the elephant in the TV spot is Amazon.com and other online retailers as Best Buy attempts to counter the "showrooming" phenomenon where customers shop the stores but order goods online.
The TV ads tout the successes of shopping at Best Buy either in the store or on the Richfield-based retailer's website.
"It's simple. Consumers want the right gifts, at the right price, as easily as possible," said Scott Moore, Best Buy's senior vice president of marketing said in a statement Sunday.
The 15-, 30- and 60-second spots began running during Sunday's World Series game and will continue until Dec. 24.
The ads, created by CP&B, Best Buy's agency of record, are stylishly done. In one, Arnett sits in a comfy chair reading verses from an oversized book that mimics the holiday standard "Twas the Night Before Christmas."
Arnett, of TV fame for "Arrested Development'' and "30 Rock,'' says, "Twas the night before Christmas and all through the hood, the shopping was over. Daddy done good."
The ad promotes Best Buy's "low price guarantee" as Arnett says: "he knew he'd never pay higher, now he was with family enjoying egg nog by the fire."
The other celebrities in the Best Buy campaign include former Saturday Night Live cast member Rudolph, who also is known for her roles in movies such as ''Bridesmaids''; rapper and actor LL Cool J, and Jason Schwartzman who was in the movies "Rushmore'' and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.''
They each read from a storybook about "potential nightmares" that are prevented by "the magic" of shopping at Best Buy.
The use of celebrity endorsements can have mixed results, University of St. Thomas advertising professor John Purdy said in an interview Monday.
"It certainly has the effect of getting peoples' attention," Purdy said. "But there is no evidence that it affects their purchase."
Still, Purdy said, Best Buy and other consumer electronic merchants need to counter the showrooming craze.
"It's something they had to do," Purdy said of Best Buy's advertising campaign. "This is the time of year when money is made, or lost."
David Phelps • 612-673-7269