Pairing a wholesome family brand with an R-rated fugitive thriller might make most people wince. However, Toys R Us Studios saw only positive aspects in “Roofman.”
The movie, which tells the true story of a North Carolina prison escapee who barricades himself in a big-box store, was not what Kim Miller Orko called “the most positive, family-friendly story.” But the president of Toys R Us Studios, no matter what his tone, was enthusiastic about the prospect of a feature-length spotlight. She became even more enthusiastic when a cross-promotion offer to Paramount came back with a polite no-thank you.
“We took to social media and started what we jokingly call a harassment campaign,” Oluko jokingly said during MIP Junior’s opening keynote on Saturday. This strategy had two purposes. One is to bring attention to the studios, and the other is to reassure consumers that modern Roofmans cannot actually hide in modern stores. The bet paid off, culminating in a social media event where Channing Tatum answered questions live from an actual Toys R Us on Instagram.
“We were very excited,” Orko said. “The promotion we’re getting is incredible.”
This strategy reflected the showmanship Orko brought to his role as Toys R Us CMO. As a senior executive at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she oversaw one of modern media’s most surprising reboots, spending more than a decade honing her talent and transforming the national box office into an unlikely Sports Illustrated cover girl and Snoop Dogg’s relatable foil.
Since 2021, Orco is looking to do the same with its retail brand, now part of WHP Global and represented by its mascot known as Jeffrey the Giraffe.
While Orko didn’t announce any major news, revealing that the studio’s live-action films already have unreleased screenwriters and international stars, Orko did shine a spotlight on the company’s media relaunch in his opening keynote address. Introducing a new tagline, “Same magic, new way,” she explained how Toys R Us plans to transform decades of goodwill (“All the millennials were Toys R Us kids,” she noted) into a nimble, modern licensing and media strategy. At its heart, of course, is the brand’s famous long-necked mascot.
“I felt really, really lucky to have a non-speaking giraffe,” she laughed. “It was nice to have a moment of silence after working with a celebrity.”
Toys R Us then constructed a new backstory for its mascot. He gave his exact age (“After much research, we found out Elmo was 3 1/2 years old, so we figured if Elmo was 3, Jeffrey would be 9 1/2”) and his partner’s exact birthday on October 17th every year, which they can use to make a retail bonanza. Now, Orko’s main goal is to give Jeffrey a media presence. It’s no wonder she’s amassed 1.1 million followers on TikTok and carved out a place for herself on the Manhattan skyline at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The studio will continue its digital push with new episodes of its YouTube series “Geoffrey Vision,” as well as working with Nickelodeon to reformat content from its “Geoffrey’s World Tour” travel series into an interactive game show. Orko also championed the company’s use of AI by partnering with OpenAI on the first-ever Sora-produced brand film, which premiered at Cannes Lions last year.
“This started a really big conversation about whether this is a good thing for content or not,” Orko said. “Toys R Us Studios is not becoming an AI studio, but we definitely have an AI studio in our toolbox.”
