Commenting on national ad campaigns is not typically our thing, but Wieden + Kennedy’s currently running work for Levi’s is very impressive. The TV spots are narrated with poems by the great American poet Walt Whitman and utilize imagery reminiscent of Ryan McGinley. Read more for the conflict, it’s stimulating…
“Go Forth!” It’s exactly what we needed to hear. But are the ads prostituting the works of a great American poet in order to sell us stuff, and should we be OK with that? Either way, it is good to see that Whitman still speaks to the core of the youth over a hundred years after his death, a testament to his genius.
So I’m a little behind on the times, but I thought Seth Stevenson from Slate had some great thoughts on the campaign, and delivered them effectively in this article. Stevenson ends with this very appropriate comment, ”among those who work in advertising, there is an eternal battle between the desire to make art and the imperative to serve commerce. This 60-second film is, to me, a small artistic gem. Right up until that Levi’s logo at the end.”
Say what you will about the intellectual conflicts within the campaign, no matter what, it is beautiful.
Check out the commercials if you haven’t already seen them …. ONE and TWO
