During the Great Recession, Old Navy, an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by Gap Inc, got hit hard and its chances to turn the tide were limited. The company partnered with the advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky and they came up with The SuperModelquins. The SuperModelquins were to be custom-made mannequins with distinct looks and personalities. The mannequins would be treated as real celebrities, with a social media account for each adult, and the full set would be on display in every store for people to take photos with. At the tail-end of October 2008, Fusion Specialties, Old Navy's regular supplier of mannequins, was contacted to produce 13,000 custom mannequins in just four months for a campaign launch in February 2009. The heads and skin tones as well as the one mannequin that's a dog took the most work, but the order was met.
The SuperModelquins ad campaign centers on twelve mannequins. Kelly is the main character and Josh's ex, with whom she parted on good terms. Josh went on to date Heather for nearly a year. Michelle and Wesley are married and have two children: Christopher and Kimmy. Eva is a single mother to Rita after divorcing the non-SuperModelquin Enrique, who post-Josh had a fling with Heather. The other three SuperModelquins have no familial or romantic ties to any of the cast and they're Amy, Natalie, and the dog Barker. Their stories are told through the photos in Old Navy's flyers (masked as gossip magazines), various TV and web commercials, and Facebook and Twitter accounts. The campaign's sense of humor relies on one hand on parodying celebrity obsession and on the other hand on the SuperModelquins' awareness that they are mannequins. On a lesser note, the early ads are rife with racial stereotypes and while this aspect never went away, it got toned down considerably.
Sales rose by 20% during the first year of The SuperModelquins, justifying a second year for the ad campaign. 2010 was marked by the SuperModelquin Super Search: a Reality TV contest for one person to be the identity basis of a new SuperModelquin. In line with the campaign's sense of irreverent self-awareness, contestants had to demonstrate their mastery of the art of standing, wearing clothes, and holding a plastic smile. The finalists were Tiffany, Kelsey, and Maggi, of which Maggi ended up the grand winner on the third of June.
In February of 2011, The SuperModelquins were retired to make way for a new music-flavored campaign: "Old Navy Records: Original hits. Original styles." Carrying the mannequin humor all the way to the end, the new campaign got promoted with the extra tagline "Real Music, Real People". There also was a video of the SuperModelquins trying out to be part of the new campaign, but their inability to dance got them rejected. Their social media accounts ended with each of them sharing their feelings over the situation and announcing new steps in their careers.
Old Navy: The SuperModelquins provides examples of:
- Amicable Exes: All former couples are on good terms. Josh and Kelly dated in the ad campaign's backstory and separated for career reasons, leaving no bad blood between them. Josh went on to date and get engaged to Heather, but they parted when Enrique made Heather doubt how she envisioned her future in "Rec Tech New Guy". It wasn't pretty at first, but the two managed to stay friends. Eva and Enrique also parted for career reasons with no hard feelings.
- Appendage Assimilation: A recurring joke is that the SuperModelquins have interchangeable and spare parts. For instance, in "Mid-Town Flash", Eva remarks that Kelly has great legs for the gown she's modeling, so Kelly offers her spare legs to Eva.
- Asian Airhead: Amy is Asian and not very bright, whether education-wise, logic-wise, or social-wise. She thinks 19 is roughly 50% of 200 in "Zero Denim Sense", she loses her legs by prioritizing her cardi coats in "Cardi Coats", and has a history as a lingerie model that she tries to deny for a whole three seconds in the face of photographic evidence in "Real Celeb Stories: The Supermodelquins". She also holds a book, Intro to Hoodies, upside down in "Hoodie Recruitment".
- Best Friend: Kimmy and Natalie are often described as each other's best friend. No other friendship in the group is highlighted like this.
- Black and Nerdy: Christopher is black and the one who usually gets to say the smart things in the group, which is why he stands out a lot more than the other kid characters, who rarely speak. This is especially evident in "Zero Denim Sense", throughout which he corrects Amy several times. Josh remarks that he has a good head on his torso.
- Censor Box: In "Mid-Town Flash", Michelle gets her gown ripped off by a shop-happy customer. Even though she herself says it's all just plastic on display, two censor boxes cover her breasts and hips.
- Embarrassing Tattoo: Josh has a tattoo of Kelly on his left leg in "Shorts Surprise". He brilliantly never told Heather he used to date Kelly and awkwardly decides to wear shorts to a surprise engagement party the others throw for him and Heather. His defense consists of "Who put that there?" and "That's not mine!"
- Flipping the Bird: Parodied as "giving the finger" in "Denim 411". Prior, in "Town Gown Proposal", Heather's ring finger broke off when Josh proposed. As a romantic gesture, he broke off his own ring finger and gave it to her along with the ring. In "Denim 411", Heather breaks off the relationship under circumstances that don't make her very sympathetic. The reporter dramatically emphasizes that "Heather gave Josh the ring and the finger," conspicuously leaving out the word "back".
- Fortune Teller: In 2010, Eva got a secondary role as the Booty Reader, for which she mimics the look of a fortune teller machine. As the Booty Reader, she reads how compatible jeans are with the wearer's booty.
- Glamorous Single Mother: Eva has a daughter, Rita, with Enrique. Following their divorce, Eva's become Rita's primary caretaker and loves her daughter dearly. Both are members of the SuperModelquins, through which they enjoy fashion and friendship.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Enrique is not a SuperModelquin, but he is Eva's most recent ex-husband and Rita's father. He originally showed up in a photo in "Real Celeb Stories: The Supermodelquins" and later temporarily joined the cast to model sportswear.
- Happily Married: Michelle and Wesley enjoy a perfectly affectionate marriage, which contrasts the breakups their friends so far have seen all of their relationships end up in.
- Inelegant Blubbering: As a mannequin, Josh doesn't have facial expressions. To highlight his emotional bad spot when Heather breaks up with him in "Denim 411", the normally prim and proper Josh walks around unshaven and in his underwear. His voice further fills in where his face can't.
- Jumping Out of a Cake: In "Birthday Bash", Kelly jumps out of a cake, prompting Josh to exclaim that birthday wishes do come true. He then gets the bodywarmer Kelly was wearing thrown at him.
- Latin Lover: Enrique is from an unspecified part of Europe, but his looks and name suggest it to be South Europe. He's Eva's ex-husband and upon temporarily modeling the fitness supplies at Old Navy's immediately catches the attention of Amy and Heather. His flirtations with Heather go so far that she breaks up with Josh.
- Murderous Mannequin: The SuperModelquins ad campaign centers on a dozen or so mannequins — Kelly, Michelle, Amy, Eva, Heather, Josh, Wesley, Christopher, Kimmy, Natalie, Rita, and Barker the dog, and the cast is sporadically joined by the non-SuperModelquin Enrique — who are alive. They act as celebrities with social media presence and the commercials depict them as sassing each other around while pointing out how affordable Old Navy is and poking fun at their own mannequin limitations and perks.
- Parental Neglect: Ambiguous. Enrique plays a role in two commercials and as many advertisements. He's shown to either be flirting with Heather and Amy or doing his job. Interactions between him and his daughter Rita are notably missing.
- Sensory Overload: Eva in her role as the Booty Reader ends up being overwhelmed by the amount of booty she's presented with and falls over.
- Serial Spouse: Eva's only confirmed ex-husband is Enrique, but in "Denim Derriere" Eva wonders what her ex-husband would think of the new her and Michelle counters with the question "Which one?" Eva concedes that is a fair question to ask.
- Sixth Ranger: Maggi joined the SuperModelquins after winning the SuperModelquin Super Search. A mannequin in her likeness were made and posed with the group in several shots, but she doesn't play a role in the stories.
