JanSport’s Singing Bags Are Back in a Ballad-Heavy Gen Z Campaign

What if your backpack could sing about all the weird stuff it’s witnessed?

JanSport’s “Always With You” campaign is back, and this time the bags aren’t just sticking around.

In its latest push to connect with Gen Z, the brand teamed up once again with creative agency Party Land to launch a new round of musical spots.

Now, the backpacks have become over-emotional, melodramatic puppets with a lot to say (and sing) about your chaotic life.

“Our premise is simple: Every JanSport bag has personality,” said Matt Heath, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Party Land.

"And we figured, if it could sing, it would. We gave the bags voices, wrote original songs, and let them react to the everyday chaos they go through, like falling in love, warding off bug attacks, getting overstuffed."

The campaign builds on the success of last year’s rollout, which helped JanSport reach its highest-grossing month in 57 years.

With deadpan humor, emotional exaggeration, and original music, the new series reinforces what the brand has long stood for.

And that's being a no-frills, always-there companion for students and young adults.

“JanSport has been with young people through decades of life’s messiest, funniest, and most forgettable moments,” JanSport VP of Global Brand Alexandra Reveles explained.

“Last year’s campaign helped reestablish our place in culture by unapologetically leaning into who we already are for our customers — loyal, reliable, and basic.

That honesty resonated with Gen Z. This new campaign takes that connection even further."

Instead of listing features, the campaign lets the bags be the stars.

They don’t talk about being durable. They live it, surviving meltdowns, bug attacks, and getting way too overstuffed, all while dramatically singing their way through the chaos.

If Your JanSport Could Sing

Built for TikTok and YouTube, each 15-second spot is purposefully weird and rough around the edges.

The bags sing angsty punk songs or sappy ballads using voices performed by untrained actors.

Everything feels a little off-key and over-the-top... but that's exactly the point.

To bring the bags to life, Party Land worked with Impossible Studios using puppetry and practical effects instead of CGI.

Each bag’s front pocket becomes a singing mouth, giving it just enough life to emote like an unstable but lovable sidekick.

Music shop Mophonics created the original tracks, which show mundane but stressful life moments like getting dumped or dodging bugs.

The decision to lead with humor was intentional, backed by marketing research showing that Gen Z prefers brands that don’t take themselves too seriously.

Market research that backed the campaign suggested 78% of Gen Z are more likely to share ads they find funny, while 61% say humorous brands feel more trustworthy. 

And Party Land clearly took these numbers to heart.

“Every JanSport bag in this campaign is a character,” said Andy Silva, Managing Partner at Party Land.

“It sees everything, survives everything, and holds onto your stuff — and your secrets — without judgment.”

The campaign runs nationally, with a heavy focus on short-form video and social platforms where Gen Z lives.

Our Take: Can Singing Bags Sustain the Glory of Jansport?

Instead of spelling out what makes JanSport valuable, they let the emotion and chaos speak (or rather, sing) for itself.

Employing humor was a clever way for the brand to strengthen emotional connections with its audience.

And it does so, all without sounding like an ad.

This type of storytelling is especially useful when you want to remind your audience why your legacy brand has been around after all these decades. 

Additionally, letting the product’s personality shine through character-driven content teaches us that authenticity doesn’t have to mean serious.

It can also mean strange, funny, and a little offbeat.

In other news, e.l.f. SKIN launched a "sunhinged" comedy roast made for the Gen-Z audience. 

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