Amy Poehler Stars In Old Navy's New TV Ads

The clothing brand said the 30-second spot will air tonight, the first in a series with the comedian for Old Navy's spring campaign.

Here's Amy Poehler's new ad for Old Navy:

Amidst the popularity of social media campaigns and hiring bloggers as spokespeople, Old Navy is going with a more traditional marketing tactic, by getting Amy Poehler to star in a set of new TV commercials.

Old Navy, which declined to disclose how much it paid Poehler, will air the first of several spots with the actress this spring and summer during Wednesday's American Idol. Poehler, who plays a lawyer in the ad above, will have different roles in the other commercials. She's also recently starred in ads for Best Buy.

In July, Old Navy Chief Marketing Officer Ivan Wicksteed told BuzzFeed that he's trying to make the brand "less reliant on traditional TV," but he admitted yesterday that it's still the most important medium.

"Even though we've been adjusting our marketing mix, television is still the single largest investment we make in a marketing vehicle because it has mass reach," Wicksteed said in an email to BuzzFeed. The brand will try to enhance that though, by releasing additional content tied to Poehler and the commercial online, and by using Twitter ad targeting to reach customers that have probably been exposed to the spot during shows like Parks & Recreation and VH1's SNL: The Best of Amy Poehler. It will also use in-search keyword targeting to advertise to users looking for information on Poehler and "relevant celebrities," he said.

Old Navy, owned by Gap Inc., is just slightly smaller than the company's namesake brand, bringing in $6.26 billion in annual sales. In the past two years, the brand's commercials have featured Nickelodeon stars, the Backstreet Boys, and most recently, Melissa McCarthy.

As far as whether Poehler actually wears Old Navy clothing, Wicksteed didn't say yes or no: "On set, she kept commenting on how great the clothes looked and that she couldn't believe the deals!" he wrote. So, that's a maybe.

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