Walmart Heads to Whoville for the Holidays

Walmart has unwrapped its 2025 holiday campaign, a vibrant, Dr. Seuss-inspired universe designed to celebrate the joy, chaos and creativity of the season.

Developed by a collection of Publicis Groupe agencies including Fallon, Leo New York, the community, Contender, and Digitas, ‘WhoKnewVille’ marks the next evolution of Walmart’s long-running ‘Who Knew?’ platform, which launched in June with an ad starring Walton Goggins. The campaign expands the idea into a fully immersive Dr. Seuss-inspired world that reimagines ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’, complete with its iconic Who-ville setting and a host of familiar faces, including Mindy Lou Who and the Grinch himself.

“The campaign premise is simple,” wrote William White, Walmart’s chief marketing officer, in a post on LinkedIn announcing the campaign. “The whimsical residents of WhoKnewVille are struggling with the classic holiday chaos – the hunt for the perfect gift, the race against the clock. Mindy Lou Who, The Grinch and all the Whos discover all Walmart can do.

“Their discovery journey mirrors that of our real-life customers, who often find themselves asking, ‘How am I going to get all this done?’ The answer, surprisingly, is Walmart. Who Knew?”

The work continues Walmart’s effort to merge entertainment and retail in unexpected ways, a strategy that has included recent pop culture-infused campaigns like RomCommerce, Deals of Desire, Mean Girls, and Gilmore Girls.

The campaign is “just the start” of what’s to come for Walmart during the holiday season. From traditional advertising to digital innovation and immersive commerce, Walmart will be inviting customers into “a storyline that is as imaginative as it is practical,” added William. “WhoKnewVille will show our customers that Walmart has the top brand gifts they're excited to give, the incredible Black Friday Deals events, and the nick-of-time Express Delivery with gifts arriving in as fast as one hour all the way through Christmas Eve.

William summed up the spirit of the work simply: “I love how this campaign brings together timeliness and relatability, all mixed with the nostalgia of Dr. Seuss. We hope all of you Whos love it too.”