Stop. Hammer Time. It’s classic line from MC Hammer’s 1990 hit, “U Can’t Touch This.” Still a catch phrase in pop culture vernacular. And now part of our holiday decorating tradition.
Apparently, earlier this year 3M launched an ad campaign for their CommandTM hooks that require no hammer to install – and that can easily be removed without leaving sticky stuff all over the wall. And that ad campaign starred MC Hammer, repurposing his famous phrase into the directive, “Stop Hammer Time.” (Get it? You don’t need hammer and nails when you use 3M’s Command hooks?) How. Did. I. Miss. This?!
Luckily, the brand has come out with an un-missable campaign extension for the holidays. As I dutifully went from store to store during this weekend, the official kick off of holiday shopping, I saw this point-of-purchase displays everywhere:
I immediately commented on the greatness of this idea to my husband. (I mean, how often does an agency get to directly transfer the meaning of a hit lyric so perfectly to promote a product’s benefits? It’s kind of a grail, really.) My husband replied that he had already seen the commercial for this. So clearly it’s making an impression upon those not in the ad biz as well. Wait a minute, there’s a commercial? I raced home to find it on YouTube. And I’ve memorialized it in this post for you all.
Seriously, can this get any better? A woman is hanging stockings by the chimney in traditional hammer-nail style. She hears a voice in the chimney say, “so no no,” instead of “ho ho ho.” “Santa?” she asks? Nope, it’s a red-leather clad MC Hammer, admonishing her to hang her stockings with more care by using Command hammer-free hooks. Because, “This Hammer hates nails.”
There is so much more to absorb in this 30-seconds of goodness, and I’ll leave it to you to discover. Suffice it to say, I now want to stop hammer time and decorate damage free. And I doubt I would even have given this product a second look had it not been for the “Stop Hammer Time” phrase backed up by the rapper himself. Happy Holidays, 3M. I think you’ll be ringing in the sales this season!