JCPenney wants consumers to reconsider the meaning of a good deal as they head into the busy fall shopping season.
The retailer’s new campaign, “Retail Rejuvenation,” is a playful spin on a wellness retreat that challenges the off-price model, a strategy where retailers sell brand-name goods at major discounts.
“Every day, millions of off-price shoppers sacrifice their dignity for a ‘good deal,’” the ad begins. “When they could find better deals on better stuff at JCPenney.”
With creative agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address, JCPenney convened six real shoppers at the retreat to help them “heal” from “the uncertainty of shopping at off-price stores.” The participants go through exercises such as a “clothing cleanse” and “mindset mantras” to unlearn bad shopping habits.
By the end, the shoppers have learned a new mantra: “Yes, JCPenney”—the brand’s tagline. The message of the satirical ad is that JCPenney shoppers can get affordable, high-quality style without trade-offs.
“There’s often this sense [among shoppers] that if you’re going to get a deal, there’s some tradeoffs involved,” said Marisa Thalberg, chief customer and marketing officer of JCPenney parent company Catalyst Brands. “We’re pushing up in a playful way against the idea that there are lots of other bigger retailers that seemingly satisfy you with this thrill of great deals, but it’s not always as true as it seems.”
In addition to the film, JCPenney is inviting people to bring in their recent “retail regrets” to one of its stores from August 28-30 and trade them in for $15 off a $50 purchase. The brand will donate the items through Good360, a nonprofit that delivers donated goods to families in need.
A turnaround mission
JCPenney has been on a mission to get consumers to reconsider the brand since the debut of “Yes, JCPenney!” last year. Since then, the brand has used buzzy and often satirical marketing to push up against cultural tensions, such as fashion elitism.
In March, the brand hosted “The Other Paris Runway,” a fashion show in Paris, Texas, where locals modeled affordable JCPenney looks as a counterpoint to the exclusivity of traditional fashion weeks.
Last year, it introduced an inclusive sizing collection with model Ashley Graham, before staging “The Other Venice Wedding,” a $10,000 celebration for a real couple in Venice, California, to contrast with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s lavish nuptials in Venice, Italy.
These efforts are part of JCPenney’s broader turnaround strategy after years of declining sales. Thalberg joined JCPenney as a consulting chief marketing officer in 2024 and took on the expanded role at Catalyst Brands in 2025.
Earlier this year, JCPenney said store traffic was up 6% year-over-year since “Yes, JCPenney!” launched. However, its Q1 2026 net sales fell 4.6% YOY to $1.25 billion.
Thalberg told ADWEEK the brand’s turnaround “hasn’t been a perfectly straight line,” partly because “our audience is real American customers, and they’ve had a tough year.”
However, the crucial back-to-school period is “off to a great start,” she added. “We’re encouraged by what we’re seeing.”
“There are many people who don’t have an up-to-date understanding of what’s inside [JCPenney’s] doors,” Thalberg said. “We’re telling a story in a fresh way to get you to see JCPenney with new eyes.”
