H. H. Gregg "H. H." (partially lost advertisements from American retail chain; 2009-2011): Difference between revisions
m (Em the LMW fan moved page H. H. Gregg "HH" commercials (Partially lost advertising material; 2009-2011) to H. H. Gregg "H. H." Commercials (partially lost advertisements; 2009-2011): Naming standards) |
(Fixed some grammatical errors and other guff I initially wrote.) |
||
Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
H. H. Gregg (stylized as "hhgregg") is an American then-retail chain, now-online store for home appliances and consumer electronics. From 2009 to 2011, the company '''''used a mascot called HH (Also referred to as "h.h.") for its TV commercials, radio spots and other media'''''. After H. H. Gregg's revival in 2017 from filing for bankruptcy previously the same year, HH was briefly used again on the company's social media and website, although no new commercials were made using him. | H. H. Gregg (stylized as "hhgregg") is an American then-retail chain, now-online store for home appliances and consumer electronics. From 2009 to 2011, the company '''''used a mascot called HH (Also referred to as "h.h." or "hh") for its TV commercials, radio spots and other media'''''. After H. H. Gregg's revival in 2017 from filing for bankruptcy previously the same year, HH was briefly used again on the company's social media and website, although no new commercials were made using him. | ||
HH has the appearance of a rolled-up H. H. Gregg catalog with floating limbs similar in fashion to the video game character Rayman. The mascot was voice acted by Wally Wingert, who also played Jon Arbuckle in ''The Garfield Show'' and Almighty Tallest Red in ''Invader Zim''.<ref>[https://www.wallyontheweb.com/news_voiceover.php WallyOnTheWeb.com: "Voiceover"] Retrieved 06 Aug '19</ref> The television commercials mostly featured HH goofing around either inside or outside a H. H. Gregg store, announcing what the retailer has to offer. A common format within the commercials includes HH parodying classic songs like ''The Twelve Days of Christmas''. Another common format starts with HH checking out an item, before a H. H. Gregg employee steps in to boast about the item; all while HH listens in awe. These usually end with HH asking the employee: "...Am I supposed to know this stuff?", to which the employee answers: "No, we are, at H. H. Gregg!". | HH has the appearance of a rolled-up H. H. Gregg catalog with floating limbs similar in fashion to the video game character Rayman. The mascot was voice acted by Wally Wingert, who also played characters like Jon Arbuckle in ''The Garfield Show'' and Almighty Tallest Red in ''Invader Zim''.<ref>[https://www.wallyontheweb.com/news_voiceover.php WallyOnTheWeb.com: "Voiceover"] Retrieved 06 Aug '19</ref> The television commercials mostly featured HH goofing around either inside or outside a H. H. Gregg store, announcing what the retailer has to offer. A common format within the commercials includes HH parodying classic songs like ''The Twelve Days of Christmas''. Another common format starts with HH checking out an item, before a H. H. Gregg employee steps in to boast about the item; all while HH listens in awe. These usually end with HH asking the employee: ''"...Am I supposed to know this stuff?"'', to which the employee answers: ''"No, we are, at H. H. Gregg!"''. | ||
[[File:HhgreggHH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Two renders of HH.]] | [[File:HhgreggHH.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Two renders of HH.]] | ||
The character was largely forgotten about after its original run, until 2015, when the | The character was largely forgotten about after its original run, until 2015, when the Christmas in July Sale 2010 commercial gained attention from meme communities. The commercial features HH standing outside a H. H. Gregg store, singing to the melody of ''Deck the Halls'' about a Panasonic Blu-Ray for $99, a 32-inch LCD TV for $299, and an LG 42-inch HD TV for $489. HH then gets hit by a snowball, which he in response asks: ''"A snowball in July?"'', before finishing his song. The commercial became commonly used in music mash-ups, such as one with the Daft Punk song ''Doin' It Right'' called [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYGTbrYi914 "doin"], which garnered more than half a million views on YouTube. Since gaining meme status, commercials starring HH became fairly sought after. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
Interviews of Hinge and Zimmerman Advertising state that "over 34 spots" were created starring HH.<ref>[https://hellohinge.com/post-magazine-promoting-a-brand-with-character/ Hinge: "Post magazine “Promoting a brand with character”"] Retrieved 06 Aug '19</ref> Another production company, Blackbird VFX (named iGlooVFX at the time), created 5 additional commercials using HH during 2010, all already uploaded.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180131230444/http://www.blackbirdvfx.com/projects/hh-gregg-mascot/ BlackbirdVFX.com: "HH Gregg Mascot".] Archived 12 Jan '18</ref> | Interviews of Hinge and Zimmerman Advertising state that "over 34 spots" were created starring HH.<ref>[https://hellohinge.com/post-magazine-promoting-a-brand-with-character/ Hinge: "Post magazine “Promoting a brand with character”"] Retrieved 06 Aug '19</ref> Another production company, Blackbird VFX (named iGlooVFX at the time), created 5 additional commercials using HH during 2010, all already uploaded.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180131230444/http://www.blackbirdvfx.com/projects/hh-gregg-mascot/ BlackbirdVFX.com: "HH Gregg Mascot".] Archived 12 Jan '18</ref> | ||
One of the identified lost ads is for an "after thanksgiving sale", in which HH connects an extension cord (which he manages to electrocute himself with) to power on a | One of the identified lost ads is for an "after thanksgiving sale", in which HH connects an extension cord (which he manages to electrocute himself with) to power on a screen that reads out "hhgregg appliances & electronics - AFTER THANKSGIVING SALE". A clip of this survives by a disgruntled viewer, who uploaded the commercial with an edit that loops the electrocuting bit through the whole 30 seconds runtime. | ||
HH also reportedly starred in radio spots. An user at CommercialsIHate.com claims to have heard a radio version of the Red Tag Sale 2009 commercial "about 12 times in the last 2 days".<ref>[http://www.commercialsihate.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=6496&PID=107756&title=hh-gregg-singing-icepick#107756 CommercialsIHate.com thread, "HH Gregg singing icepick".] Retrieved 06 Aug '19</ref> It is unknown how many of these were made. | HH also reportedly starred in radio spots. An user at CommercialsIHate.com claims to have heard a radio version of the Red Tag Sale 2009 commercial "about 12 times in the last 2 days".<ref>[http://www.commercialsihate.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=6496&PID=107756&title=hh-gregg-singing-icepick#107756 CommercialsIHate.com thread, "HH Gregg singing icepick".] Retrieved 06 Aug '19</ref> It is unknown how many of these were made. | ||
Line 57: | Line 57: | ||
|4th of July Sale 2010||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>||[https://www.facebook.com/hhgregg/posts/128592110511345 Facebook post for the ad.] | |4th of July Sale 2010||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>||[https://www.facebook.com/hhgregg/posts/128592110511345 Facebook post for the ad.] | ||
|- | |- | ||
|After | |After Thanksgiving Sale 2010||[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efyEgwvP0Nw <span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>]||Edited by the uploader to loop a 1-second clip. Uploader claims to have ripped the commercial off the old website, but has not uploaded the full version when asked. | ||
|- | |- | ||
|Baltimore, MD Grand Opening||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>||[https://www.facebook.com/hhgregg/posts/117142598307192 Facebook post for the ad.] | |Baltimore, MD Grand Opening||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>||[https://www.facebook.com/hhgregg/posts/117142598307192 Facebook post for the ad.] | ||
|- | |- | ||
|Christmas in July Sale 2010||[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJzt8L_i7_U <span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]|| | |Christmas in July Sale 2010||[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJzt8L_i7_U <span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]|| | ||
|- | |- | ||
|Coupon Mania 2009||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>||[https://www.facebook.com/hhgregg/posts/132549764622 Facebook post for the ad.] | |Coupon Mania 2009||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>||[https://www.facebook.com/hhgregg/posts/132549764622 Facebook post for the ad.] | ||
Line 82: | Line 80: | ||
|- | |- | ||
|New Whirlpool Washer & Dryer||[https://vimeo.com/9683447 <span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]||Created by iGlooVFX. | |New Whirlpool Washer & Dryer||[https://vimeo.com/9683447 <span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]||Created by iGlooVFX. | ||
|- | |||
|New Year's Event\"Confetti Fantasy"||[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoQAIE9bjoU <span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]|| | |||
|- | |- | ||
|Panasonic "Larger Than Life" HDTVs||[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeyTVHXA89E <span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]||Bad quality. | |Panasonic "Larger Than Life" HDTVs||[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeyTVHXA89E <span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>]||Bad quality. |
Revision as of 12:35, 7 August 2019
H. H. Gregg (stylized as "hhgregg") is an American then-retail chain, now-online store for home appliances and consumer electronics. From 2009 to 2011, the company used a mascot called HH (Also referred to as "h.h." or "hh") for its TV commercials, radio spots and other media. After H. H. Gregg's revival in 2017 from filing for bankruptcy previously the same year, HH was briefly used again on the company's social media and website, although no new commercials were made using him.
HH has the appearance of a rolled-up H. H. Gregg catalog with floating limbs similar in fashion to the video game character Rayman. The mascot was voice acted by Wally Wingert, who also played characters like Jon Arbuckle in The Garfield Show and Almighty Tallest Red in Invader Zim.[1] The television commercials mostly featured HH goofing around either inside or outside a H. H. Gregg store, announcing what the retailer has to offer. A common format within the commercials includes HH parodying classic songs like The Twelve Days of Christmas. Another common format starts with HH checking out an item, before a H. H. Gregg employee steps in to boast about the item; all while HH listens in awe. These usually end with HH asking the employee: "...Am I supposed to know this stuff?", to which the employee answers: "No, we are, at H. H. Gregg!".
The character was largely forgotten about after its original run, until 2015, when the Christmas in July Sale 2010 commercial gained attention from meme communities. The commercial features HH standing outside a H. H. Gregg store, singing to the melody of Deck the Halls about a Panasonic Blu-Ray for $99, a 32-inch LCD TV for $299, and an LG 42-inch HD TV for $489. HH then gets hit by a snowball, which he in response asks: "A snowball in July?", before finishing his song. The commercial became commonly used in music mash-ups, such as one with the Daft Punk song Doin' It Right called "doin", which garnered more than half a million views on YouTube. Since gaining meme status, commercials starring HH became fairly sought after.
History
HH's character was made by Zimmerman Advertising and Hinge Digital.[2][3] H. H. Gregg tasked Zimmerman to "center a campaign around a new spokes-character, to increase the aided and unaided awareness measures". After Zimmerman drew the initial 2D HH designs, they were handed over to Hinge, who refined the character and created an animation test showing HH interacting in a live-action store environment. The HH campaign was then greenlit by H. H. Gregg.
The mascot was first announced on H. H. Gregg's blog in July 28th 2009, stating that HH would be introduced "Wednesday afternoon" (the 29th).[4] A Facebook account for the mascot called "h.h. Sales Guide" was also created on the 27th. The account would post in-character messages, occasionally sending a YouTube video link for the latest commercials (The videos themselves however are long since deleted).[5][6] On the 29th, the first HH commercial was posted, called the "20% Off Sale Commercial".[7] Sometime during 2010, the Facebook account would start posting more professional messages, and the account name was changed to simply "hhgregg".
HH's retirement can be linked to H. H. Gregg starting up another advertising campaign called "We Help".[8][9][10] The campaign started around mid-May 2011. HH was slowly phased out of the website during this time period and the YouTube account was also wiped.[11][12][13] No official statement on HH's retirement has been made by the company.
The last TV commercial to be caught on internet archives before the "We Help" campaign is the "33-Hour Sale" commercial for April 21-23th 2011.[14] This is assumed to be the final commercial starring HH.
Availability
Interviews of Hinge and Zimmerman Advertising state that "over 34 spots" were created starring HH.[15] Another production company, Blackbird VFX (named iGlooVFX at the time), created 5 additional commercials using HH during 2010, all already uploaded.[16]
One of the identified lost ads is for an "after thanksgiving sale", in which HH connects an extension cord (which he manages to electrocute himself with) to power on a screen that reads out "hhgregg appliances & electronics - AFTER THANKSGIVING SALE". A clip of this survives by a disgruntled viewer, who uploaded the commercial with an edit that loops the electrocuting bit through the whole 30 seconds runtime.
HH also reportedly starred in radio spots. An user at CommercialsIHate.com claims to have heard a radio version of the Red Tag Sale 2009 commercial "about 12 times in the last 2 days".[17] It is unknown how many of these were made.
As of August 6th 2019, 18 out of the 34+ TV commercials starring HH have been found. 2 other incomplete ones have been also found. A handful of lost commercials have been identified by searching through H. H. Gregg's Facebook page.
Name | Status | Notes |
---|---|---|
12 Deals of Xmas | Found | |
New 125th Store | Found | Created by iGlooVFX. |
20% Off Sale #1/"On the Same Page" | Found | Facebook post for the ad. |
20% Off Sale #2 | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. The post implies HH says nothing more than "20% off" while wearing a hat. |
20% Off Sale #3/"I'm Stuffed" | Found | Facebook post for the ad. |
33-Hour Sale April 21-23 2011 | Lost | Blog post about the ad. This is probably HH's last appearance. |
4th of July Sale 2010 | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
After Thanksgiving Sale 2010 | Partially Found | Edited by the uploader to loop a 1-second clip. Uploader claims to have ripped the commercial off the old website, but has not uploaded the full version when asked. |
Baltimore, MD Grand Opening | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
Christmas in July Sale 2010 | Found | |
Coupon Mania 2009 | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
Employee Discount | Found | Created by iGlooVFX. |
Frigidaire Infinity Washer | Found | Bad quality. |
HH Private Sale | Found | Created by iGlooVFX. Possible Facebook post for the ad. |
Markdown Madness Sale March 20-26 2011 | Partially Lost | Facebook post for the ad. Low quality recording from a camcorder. ~1 second missing from the beginning. |
Markdown Madness Sale March 21-27 2010 | Found | Facebook post for the ad. Alternatively known as "Mark it Down". |
Markdown Madness Sale June 20-26 2010 | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. Probably a variant of the original. |
Memorial Day Sale 2010 | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
New Whirlpool Washer & Dryer | Found | Created by iGlooVFX. |
New Year's Event\"Confetti Fantasy" | Found | |
Panasonic "Larger Than Life" HDTVs | Found | Bad quality. |
Panasonic Viera 3D TV | Found | |
Play Call | Found | |
Presidents' Day 2010 Sale | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
Red Tag Sale 2009 | Found | |
Samsung Four Seasons of Hope Foundation Commercial | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
Serta Mattresses | Found | Created by iGlooVFX. |
Sharp Quattron LED TV | Found | |
Super Sale XLIV | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
Tent Sale 2010 | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
Whirlpool Cabrio Mark It Down | Lost | Facebook post for the ad. |
Whirlpool Side-by-Side XXL Refridgerator | Found |
Gallery
External Link
- H. H. Gregg on Wikipedia. Retrieved 06 Aug '19
References
- ↑ WallyOnTheWeb.com: "Voiceover" Retrieved 06 Aug '19
- ↑ Liaison PR News Room: "INCREASING BRAND VALUE THROUGH ANIMATED SPOKES-CHARACTERS". Retrieved 06 Aug '19
- ↑ Hinge: "hh Campaign" Retrieved 06 Aug '19
- ↑ blog.hhgregg.com: "You've Never Met a Sales Guide Like hh". Archived 06 Aug '09
- ↑ hhgregg on Facebook: "Guess who? Hhello!!! I’m on my way to hhgregg..." Retrieved 06 Aug '09
- ↑ blog.hhgregg.com: "hhgregg Commercials on YouTube". Archived 25 Mar '10
- ↑ hhgregg on Facebook: "Whew! I'm so relieved to jump off the page in all my 3D glory..." Retrieved 06 Aug '09
- ↑ hhgregg on Facebook: "You've seen our new commercial, now take a look at what happened..." Retrieved 04 Aug '19
- ↑ The New York Times: "Appliance Retailer Turns the Spotlight on Its Staff". Retrieved 06 Aug '19
- ↑ One of the commercials used for the "We Help" campaign. Retrieved 06 Aug '19
- ↑ hhgregg on Facebook: "Check out our new-and-improved site, and let us know what you think..." Retrieved 06 Aug '19
- ↑ H. H. Gregg's YouTube, around the time HH first appeared. Archived 08 Aug '09
- ↑ H. H. Gregg's YouTube, after "We Help" was launched. Archived 21 May '11
- ↑ blog.hhgregg.com: "hhgregg 33-Hour Sale". Archived 01 May '11
- ↑ Hinge: "Post magazine “Promoting a brand with character”" Retrieved 06 Aug '19
- ↑ BlackbirdVFX.com: "HH Gregg Mascot". Archived 12 Jan '18
- ↑ CommercialsIHate.com thread, "HH Gregg singing icepick". Retrieved 06 Aug '19