Ad Age

The spokesman for BJ's Wholesale Club is a grumpy customer who trolls the company's ads

Grocery store employee in a red shirt chatting with a customer at checkout near displays of mangoes.

Stubbornness is a helluva drug in an integrated campaign for BJ’s Wholesale Club from Terri & Sandy. The unwitting spokesman is Frank, a grumpy husband who’s too set in his ways to accept the great deals at the new wholesaler in town.

A guy who describes himself as “not a big fan of change,” Frank rails against the selection of fresh produce while happily munching away on mangoes and denigrates the coupons his wife Brenda is already using behind his back.

Three TV spots follow the couple from the couch to the store, where Frank decides to start protesting, insisting it builds character to pay higher prices. All the while, Brenda goes about her day, ignoring Frank’s misplaced ire.

Social spots find Frank taking to the internet to film videos “debunking” BJ’s direct mail flyers—the same flyers that are actually being sent to customers living near new locations. He also dons a sandwich board to protest real out-of-home ads that viewers might see on their commutes.

The spots are directed by Dave Gray via Supply & Demand, and Noble People handled media. The campaign is now running on social and TV and in direct and out-of-home placements in Detroit and may roll out to other areas later this year.