"Let's Go to the Mall" is a song written by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother. The song was performed by Canadian actress Cobie Smulders in the role of Robin Scherbatsky, who has a secret past of being a teenage Canadian pop star and adopted the stage name Robin Sparkles. Thomas and Bays originally came up with the idea and spent weeks developing the story with writer Kourtney Kang. The song was first featured in the form of a faux music video in the episode "Slap Bet" that aired on November 20, 2006, before the song was digitally released as a single on September 4, 2007. The track later appeared on the soundtrack album How I Met Your Music (2012).
Let's Go to the Mall
Carter Bays (left) and Craig Thomas (right), creators and executive producers of the show, wrote the song.
Smulders as Robin Sparkles (centre) on the set of the music video. Her appearance is reminiscent of Debbie Gibson's music videos during the Electric Youth-era and Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now".
Smulders' performance received critical acclaim. She reprised the role of Robin Sparkles in three more episodes.
Craig Thomas (screenwriter)
Craig David Thomas is an American television writer who, along with writing partner Carter Bays, has written episodes of American Dad!, Oliver Beene, Quintuplets and the hit CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which they created in 2005. In 2012 How I Met Your Mother won a People's Choice Awards.
Craig Thomas in 2022