Men, consider yourself warned: JC Penney's "Beware of the Doghouse" viral marketing campaign is back for a second holiday season.

The campaign--which attempts to steer men away from questionable holiday gifts such as vacuum cleaners and gym memberships and into the arena of fine jewelry--launches today on BewareoftheDoghouse.com.

This year's campaign features an all-new video that focuses on the Doghouse's review board process and trial, highlighting how men can make their way out of the dreaded underground world where they are forced to fold laundry all day.

It features a few familiar faces from last year's campaign, including the man who earned himself the nickname "Dual Bag" after he gifted his wife a vacuum cleaner.

In the new video, a line of eight men are denied parole one after another--including one who bought his hops-averse wife a beer-making kit and pleads his case by telling the all-female parole board, "It's a wonderful beverage." The only man granted release is "Donny," who found himself back in the Doghouse after a marathon poker game with the boys. His secret: He bought his wife a piece of fine jewelry from JC Penney, a pendant from De Beers' new Everlon Diamond Knot Collection, to be exact.

In addition to the new video, this year's Doghouse campaign takes male reprimand to the next level by allowing users to visit the site and build a case about their bad gift-giver filled with written statements, imported photos, videos and witness testimony, according to JC Penney, Plano, Texas.



Each "case file" then will be compiled into a trial movie with its own Web address, allowing users to share their own personal Doghouse video with friends using tools such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and e-mail.

All of these will also be available for viewing on BewareoftheDoghouse.com throughout the holiday season.

Release from the Doghouse site comes when the bad gift-giver buys a piece of fine jewelry from JC Penney--a link on the page will take users to the fine-jewelry section of JC Penney's Web site--or their loved one opts to release them with a click of a button.

JC Penney launched the Doghouse campaign, created by Saatchi and Saatchi, in November 2008. During the 2008 holiday season, the popular campaign logged more than 7 million Web site visitors and 14 million total video views, and garnered the 2009 World Retail Award for Best Digital Retail Advertising Campaign.

"A fun and humorous take on gift-giving, 'Beware of the Doghouse' once again showcases JC Penney as the department store destination customers can trust for fine-jewelry gifts of exceptional style and quality, yet at very affordable prices--a unique value proposition that matters now more than ever," Ruby Anik, senior vice president of brand marketing at JC Penney, said in the release. "Adding new, interactive features on the 'Beware of the Doghouse' site is just another great example of the fun and innovative ways that we are inviting our customers to celebrate the joy of giving with JC Penney this holiday season, while showcasing our selection of beautiful, meaningful fine-jewelry gifts."


Nielsen Business Media