I’ll admit, up until a few weeks ago I didn’t realize K-Mart was still in existence. The last K-Mart I entered was within a mile of a Caldor, a Child World and a Bradlees (3 northeast chains which have since gone the way of the Dodo bird). Now thanks to a new viral video, K-Mart has had some new life breathed back into it.

The company’s “Ship My Pants” commercial, created by Chicago agency DraftFCB, received over 13 million views on YouTube before it even aired on television in mid-April. The irreverent new spot is fantastically juvenile and the last thing you’d expect to see from the discount chain.

Although many executives at K-Mart are quick to see the spot as a home run for the declining brand, it doesn’t appear that much has been done to improve the actual experience of shopping in their stores. Of any retailer, K-Mart invests the lowest amount of their total revenue on maintaining their actual stores – something they are in desperate need of. Insiders say that executives have long since given up on the modernization of their brick and mortar locations and have instead focused more on growing their online business, which has experienced steady growth over the past year.

There is a clear disconnect between the K-Mart we’re seeing on TV, the K-Mart we’re engaging online, and the K-Mart we’re encountering once we slide through the automatic doors. This undervaluing of the in-store experience could very well be the death of K-Mart; and the recent attention they’re getting may only help to accelerate that fate. Growing your online presence is an obvious necessity for any brand — online, and particularly mobile sales are growing rapidly. But the reality is that only 7% of all retail sales currently happen online. If your brand identity isn’t firmly established and consistent at all touch points, it’s destined to fail. Is your brand ready to ship the bed?