The Gods Are Waiting to Delight in You. Or Something.

Co-opting the powerful poetry of Bukowski, Levi's releases this ad-cum-manifesto in the wake of global strikes and riots. It's apt to see it now, given what's happening in London, but it would have risen more readily to its Grand Youth Anthem! potential if the agency resisted the urge to toss in that kissing-in-the-swimming-pool potshot that all indie ads need to include under penalty of death.

You could have been braver, Levi's. Kids are dying out there, protecting one another, painting their faces, camping out all hours and wielding makeshift torches. This is the one instance in which they didn't need to be depicted as whimsical and romantic; you could have just focused on the strength, gritty unity and insane heedlessness that animates the conviction of youth.

Levi's Loves it When Things Comes Together

Some vimeo candy from Levi's, which, for me, consistently tells the loveliest little stories in audiovisual media. (I did briefly think of IKEA though, but I blame it primarily on that fucking Jona Lewie song which my boyfriend hums four days a week which of course makes me think of the ad with the house missing a wall which of course now comes to mind whenever I see that same trope.)

Beautiful, beautiful work here by DANIELS for Levi's Chambray by Opening Ceremony. It's hard to highlight the appeal of a collection this understated without going over the top or lying to the eyes, but this production proves a very adequate backdrop. Plus, you can just imagine the fun everybody had on-set.

(I admit to having a bias.)

And special thanks to The Publigeekaire, through whose mirror I still find advertising to be a world of fantasy and possibility.

MAKE TRUCKER JACKETS, NOT WAR

I give you The Evolution of the Levi's Trucker Jacket, part of its Ready to Work campaign.



A slow starter but pretty, especially if you're into that self-effacing folksy indie aesthetic that was cool back when it meant all those things, and is occasionally still cool when it still does/passes for it.

Not that I mind in this case. The ambiance and the Levi's brand leaves the lingering burnt-cherrywood smell of American mythology. We're a young country but on a quest for legends to remember where we come from; what better look and feel? (And what better medium than Levi's?)

Levi's: Love, Lust and Storytelling

In April I got to see an ad:tech talk given by Senior Director Michael Perman of Levi's. It was called "The Art of Storytelling," something at which the company particularly excels.

Anyway, I was doing my usual trawl of exceptional William Shatner videos* the other day when I came across treasure: the two ads that got me stuck on advertising in the first place.

Humor me ››

Walt Whitman for Blue Jeans.

A practical choice for if you're gonna go rambling off into nature with little apparent intention of returning. And that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Read more on the effort launched by the Homer of our time, Levi Strauss & Co.