Forget lockers, hall passes, and cafeteria clichés. For its 2026 back-to-school campaign, Journeys is reimagining the first day of school through the dreamlike lens of a music video, replacing familiar classroom tropes with skateboarding, breakdancing, horseback arrivals and speaker-equipped bicycles in a visually inventive campaign from Anomaly.
The campaign, “Don’t Just Show Up. Turn Up.”, expands Journeys’ Life On Loud brand platform, celebrating individuality by transforming an ordinary school day into a surreal expression of confidence, creativity and personal style.
Rather than portraying school as simply a destination, the campaign positions the return to the classroom as an opportunity for young people to express who they are.
“Back-to-school is one of the biggest retail moments of the year, but it’s also one of the most competitive,” said Stacy Doren, Chief Marketing Officer at Journeys. “We wanted to create something that captured the confidence, excitement, and possibility that comes with a new school year. At its core, this campaign is about celebrating self-expression and positioning Journeys as a place for young people to discover and define their personal style.”
Directed by visual artist Max Siedentopf, the campaign embraces handcrafted filmmaking techniques, with many of its effects captured in-camera. Additional visual elements were hand-rendered by animation studio Slow Bureau, avoiding the use of AI-generated imagery.
The hero 30-second spot unfolds inside a school where reality bends to teenage imagination. Olympic skateboarder Sky Brown rides through the halls, musician Inji transforms a speaker-stacked bicycle into a mobile DJ booth, and actress Madison Bailey appears as three distinct versions of herself, reflecting the many identities teens explore as they define their personal style.
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Set to an original electronic score from producer Star Slinger, the campaign embraces absurdity as a creative language rather than something to be toned down. Watch below:
“Most back-to-school ads ask young people to fit in or subscribe to some sort of archetype,” said Leanne Amann, Group Creative Director at Anomaly. “We wanted to celebrate what happens when teens lean into their own unique imagination and self-expression. There’s a tendency to dismiss teens’ surreal humor and absurdity as ‘brain rot.’ We see that differently. Underneath the absurdity is inspiring creativity. And rather than ask young people to tone it down, we built a campaign around turning it up.”
Beyond the hero film, the campaign includes three 15-second spots and a series of six-second social executions tailored for TikTok and other short-form platforms. The bite-sized films feature attention-grabbing moments, including a student dangling from a parking lot light pole, another serving a literal plate of shoes, and a bulldog sporting a denim vest while riding a scooter.
Launching today across television, social, and influencer channels, the campaign also features actors Anna Cathcart and Madison Bailey, skateboarders Sky and Ocean Brown, and musicians Samara Cyn and Inji, extending the Life On Loud platform across multiple cultural touchpoints.
CREDITS:
BRAND: Journeys
AGENCY: Anomaly
