The JOE BOXER line was originally launched in late July of 2002.  Kmart had planned to support it with a series of commercials featuring fun, young men and women.  Vaughn Lowery came in to audition for a part in one of the commercials.  During the audition, he dropped his pants to show his JOE BOXER underwear and started to dance.  Kmart and the ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, loved it so much, they created a spot dedicated to just Vaughn and his dance.  The new holiday spots are an evolution of the original spot.  There are currently two JOE BOXER holiday spots featuring Vaughn -- ANTLER BOOGIE and UNWRAP.

With the economy down and the anniversary of September 11 right around the corner, the original Kmart JOE BOXER spot featuring Vaughn came right at the time Americans could use a good laugh.  People of all ages, sexes and races embraced Vaughn because he was having fun -- pure and simple.  It wasn't contrived or fake.  It was real, and that is what made the spots, and Vaughn, such a hit.

Kmart never expected the spots to become as big as they did.  We get at least 10 requests a day asking about Vaughn or wondering where they can download the commercials.  30,000 people downloaded them in the first month alone.  This is definitely something that struck a cord with the public and they built it from there.

Since it launched, the JOE BOXER brand has sold more than $200 million in product, making it one of Kmart's most successful brand launches to date.

Kmart felt very strongly that Vaughn appealed to every segment of the company's shopping population.  The fun, irreverent nature that is depicted in the JOE BOXER spots speaks to every race.  This is a real focus of Kmart's advertising at this time -- develop creative with all of Kmart's shoppers in mind from the very beginning of the development process.  Kmart's new holiday advertising features African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Caucasians, and these are the spots that are running on mainstream media, like ER and Friends.  To succeed, Kmart needs to address everyone who shops at our stores, not just the majority.

In Vaughn's case, he was the one that determined what actor played the lead, because he was the one who really created the commercial.  I think corporations are starting to realize that they need to speak to more than just the general market if they are going to succeed.  They need to address all of their consumers.  That is why Kmart's ads that are running in primetime for the holidays feature such a wide array of races -- African American, Hispanic, Asian and Caucasian.  You need to reflect who is shopping in your stores.  Choosing an African American or Hispanic actor as the lead in our commercials makes sense for Kmart, because those are the people who are in our stores.

The aboutvaughn.com website was Vaughn's idea.  He runs it.  However, he can also be seen on joeboxer.com and soon on a Kmart site dedicated to just JOE BOXER and Vaughn.  The web is an excellent way to reach a very wide audience.  We plan to use it to its fullest potential.

There are a number of things in the works.  This month the JOE BOXER spots will also be seen in theaters across the country, and very soon the Joe Boxer guy will be hitting the Internet in a fun, new interactive project.  And, yes, more JOE BOXER Boogie commercials are planned for next year.