Times Square?

So by now, you’ve probably seen PJP on your social media in a national ad campaign for Facebook and Instagram. It’s been a surreal experience, so let’s break it all down…

In early October, we were contacted by a casting agent who was working on a campaign for Facebook about the importance of small business in local communities. After a few phone interviews, I participated on some Zoom calls with the Facebook creative team about PJP and our feelings about the importance of small business. As you might guess, I hopped right on my soapbox for that issue. (Spoiler alert: PJP is a special sort of girl and small business is integral to the American economy.)

In our next steps, Facebook asked me for a list of ten PJP regulars who might be willing to talk about PJP and the role we play in the local community. And actually, this was a humbling experience because I could have easily handed over a list of 100 names. We are lucky girls, indeed.

And then in the span of two days, an entire weekend photo and video shoot was planned in our store. (Here I drop a HUGE shout out to our regular hair and make up people - Shawna Forbis and Rhonda Robb - who agreed to come do our glam on a Sunday morning at 9 am. And if you think this sounds like a whirlwind weekend, add in the restrictions of pandemic life. In this case, we had teams in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York at the shoot via computer video calls and an actual team of individuals freelancing the project out of Kansas City. (They were COVID tested each morning they were at our store.). In fact, the photographer was actually in New York City and he told the person here exactly where to place the camera and then he took the pictures remotely. It was interesting to watch the collaboration between the teams in remote locations.

All in all, we spent about 14 hours working on the project in one day, plus several of our customers came to the store and were photographed. The crew finished up the next day and then as quickly as they arrived, they were gone. And because it wasn’t really an ad for PJP, we had zero control over what we wore, what we did, or when/where the ad runs. Rumor has it that Facebook runs some of these in Times Square, but. I have no proof of that and since I’m not in Times Square…I guess we will never know.

Last week, Facebook and Instagram started running the campaign featuring us. It is an odd feeling to scroll through your feed and see your own face in someone else’s materials. Also, I can NEVER be a famous person because I read a lot of the comments on the post from strangers all over the world and a fair number argued that pie baking isn’t a lost art or they knew someone else who likely made better pies than us. People are pretty charming lately. Ahem. (At this point, Behind-The-Scenes Jason advised I get a thicker skin or quit reading what people on the Internet had to say. Fair enough.)

At any rate, we’ve gained a lot of new followers and have seen a sharp uprise in online shipping orders…plus it was an experience that will always be a big part of our story. For all that, we are so thankful. Also, my very favorite picture of Jeanne and I ever taken came out of that long Sunday shoot and that made the early morning glam, the long hours, and the not-so-nice Facebook comments worth it all…