The new Target holiday ads are out, and if you've been scratching your head, trying to figure out who that vaguely familiar-looking woman is who's playing that competitive and slightly demented Black Friday shopper, scratch no longer.

It's Maria Bamford, the cute but decidedly off-kilter stand-up comedian who is probably best known for participating in the Comedians of Comedy tour with Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, and Brian Posehn.

Most of the ads show Bamford playing the competitive shopper, pulling full Target carts uphill and sleeplessly decorating a gingerbread village in preparation for the store's big Black Friday sale. But in some of the spots, Bamford also plays the woman's more "normal" sister, who doesn't need to be there as soon as the doors open. Problem is, she also puts her wreath up using a staple gun. So how normal can she be? One of the ads is below, and a couple of more are after the jump:







One of the keystones of Bamford's act has been her ability to lower her usual pixie-ish voice to play relatives and homemakers that seem normal but in reality make Betty Draper seem stable by comparison. It seems like the folks at Target and their advertising agency have been able to channel that part of her act in a very effective way.

Target's collected all the ads on a YouTube page dedicated to the sale. Go for the ads... stay for the comments.

So, not only have I given Target a good percentage of my income over the years, now I'm giving them free advertising. Yeesh. I'd lobby for them to send me a free gift card or something, but I can't. Stupid journalistic integrity.

[via Punchline]