The idea behind Greg Grippo’s “Six Trips of Target” entry was to reimagine the classic holiday Target run through a comedic, character-driven lens. Instead of producing a traditional haul or straightforward seasonal shopping video, the creative centered on a fictional persona — Dan, “The Escape Artist” — a man overwhelmed by a full house of relatives, shared bathrooms, zero boundaries, and peak holiday chaos. His only moment of peace? Escaping to Target.
The goal was to use humor and storytelling to highlight Target not just as a place to shop, but as an emotional refuge during the holidays — the spot where people go to take a break, reset, wander, and find comfort in familiar aisles. By building the narrative around Dan’s exaggerated but relatable desperation for quiet, the campaign tapped into a universal holiday truth: sometimes, you need to get out of the house.
Strategically, the objectives were to:
Create a distinctive, entertainment-first piece that stood out within the crowded landscape of holiday creator content
Leverage Greg’s strengths in acting and personality-driven humor to develop a memorable character audiences would connect with
Integrate Target’s holiday assortment in a way that felt natural to the story rather than overtly promotional
Drive high watch-through and shareability by making the content feel like a mini holiday sketch rather than an ad
Extend Target’s brand positioning as the go-to holiday destination for products and for the emotional micro-escapes people crave during the busiest time of year
To bring Greg Grippo’s “Dan the Escape Artist” concept to life for Target’s Six Trips of Target campaign, we approached the project like a short-form comedy sketch rather than a standard creator partnership. The guiding insight was universal: during the holidays, when family overwhelms the house and personal space disappears, Target becomes the one place you can breathe.
Plan of Action
We built a narrative around “Dan,” Greg’s fictional alter ego — the guy who loves his family but is slowly unraveling under the weight of holiday togetherness. With 12 relatives packed in, shared bathrooms, and constant noise, Dan flees to Target under the guise of a “quick errand,” turning the store into his sanctuary.
A key creative element across the Six Trips of Target series was the use of comedian Dana Moon, who served as the voiceover narrator for each creator’s video. Her introductions set the tone, explained who each creator was portraying, and brought the audience in on the joke from the very beginning. In Greg’s case, Dana framed him as Dan the Escape Artist, ensuring viewers understood the character and the comedic setup instantly.
Execution + Key Features
Greg brought Dan to life using expressive acting, physical comedy, and tight storytelling. The piece was edited to play like a mini holiday sitcom, with Target acting as the calm, comic counterpoint to the chaos at home.
Key execution elements included:
Character-first storytelling, rooted in situational humor
Light-touch product integration kept the focus on narrative rather than sales
Cinematic, platform-optimized editing for TikTok and Instagram
Humor grounded in relatable holiday dynamics, making the content widely shareable
Challenges + Solutions
The main challenge was balancing comedy with product visibility. We solved this by integrating items naturally into Dan’s “escape” rather than forcing them into the spotlight. Another challenge was making the premise instantly clear. Dana Moon’s narration established context within seconds.
What Makes This Work Unique
Most holiday creator content relies on hauls or gift guides; this campaign stood out by using character-driven storytelling and comedy. Framing Greg as “Dan the Escape Artist” transformed a simple Target run into a narrative moment viewers related to and wanted to rewatch. Dana Moon’s consistent narration across the series created cohesion and made each creator’s character immediately understandable, elevating the overall storytelling.
The result was a piece that felt both entertaining and deeply relatable by capturing the truth that sometimes the holiday Target visit isn’t about shopping, but about sanity. That blend of humor, relatability, and smart creative strategy made this execution stand out in a crowded holiday landscape.
Despite being designed as a narrative-first, top-of-funnel entertainment piece rather than a traditional engagement-driven haul or CTA-heavy post, the campaign delivered strong platform performance at scale. On Instagram, the video generated 11.5M views on Target’s channel with a 0.07% engagement rate, aligning with branded content benchmarks for high-reach holiday campaigns. On TikTok, the piece drove 4.4M views with a 0.04% engagement rate, supported by meaningful saves and shares that indicated genuine resonance.
Importantly, the metrics reflected exactly what the campaign set out to achieve: broad visibility, strong watch-through, and emotional relatability, rather than comment-led engagement. Audience reactions centered on humor and the highly relatable “holiday escape” storyline, validating the creative insight and demonstrating that viewers connected with the content’s tone, character, and cultural truth.
