Top 40 Classic #12

JanSport had near-universal recognition — and a "the bag your mom bought you as a kid" problem with 18-24-year-olds. Party Land had launched the brand's Always With You platform in 2024 to fix it: irreverent humor, music-first storytelling, TikTok-native sensibility. That campaign drove JanSport's highest-grossing month in company history. For 2025's encore, they kept the irreverence and shifted the perspective. What if your JanSport could talk? Or sing? Party Land built five musical-comedy films using puppetry and practical effects, turning the front zipper pouch into an expressive "pocket mouth" so each bag could sing its own melodramatic anthem about the indignities of young adulthood. Original songs across genres, untrained vocals, lo-fi production. The campaign engaged Gen Z because it didn't try to be cool. YouTube engagement rose 435%, view-through rates climbed 110%, CPMs dropped 20%. TikTok view-through hit 99%, up from 85% the year prior. Reach and impressions beat 2024's record. Ad Age called it one of the year's best Gen Z marketing ideas. Placing at number 12 — JanSport and Party Land, from Party Land.