Remembering the viral East Hills mall commercial, 10 years later

Aug. 14—Ten years ago, East Hills Shopping Center hoped to get some traffic with a back-to-school commercial featuring mall employees. Little did they know, the advertisement would become known worldwide, even a decade later.

Tyson Huff-Garza, who was "boots and pants," is a Realtor for the St. Joseph Real Estate Group. He said he's been recognized across the country.

"One of the biggest things ... the Frozen Musical in Disney World, they use the tag-line in a lot of their show," said Huff-Garza. "It's funny, anybody that I've had go to Disney World and watches that show, they always text me."

Huff-Garza said the commercial is still talked about around the globe.

"I have, um ... these messages from this group in Switzerland that like, is still asking me to this day to come over there," Huff-Garza said.

Candice Patton, who was "denim" in the commercial, works at Mazuma Credit Union in Kansas City today.

She said she didn't know she was going to be selected for the commercial, one that turned out to be quite a unique experience.

"We were just 'innocent victims,' and it blew up," Patton said. "We took it to the Ellen Show, and it was crazy."

The group was able to go on the Ellen Show to help create the premiere for her 12th season.

Both Patton and Huff-Garza said they still get recognized.

"I always get like, 'Hey, you look familiar,'" Patton said.

"They'll be like, 'Are you Boots and Pants?'" Huff-Garza said.

The viral video continues to be remembered by participants, and of course, the St. Joseph community.

Huff-Garza said there's a lot he's learned from the creation of the commercial.

"I think I've learned, don't take life too seriously," said Huff-Garza. "I know that the commercial did come with a lot of hate. Like, just people being mean and like, 'This is a trash commercial, most terrible commercial.' OK, well, we weren't doing it to be ... we're not trying to win an Emmy here."

Patton and Huff-Garza said the viral commercial was something fun that they'll be remembered for, for a long time.