"Go Forth," proclaims Levi's.
But to where?
I'm still processing the Levi's "Go Forth" campaign, what with its hypnotic TV spots and its highly engaging website. What to make of it?
The campaign, from Wieden & Kennedy, features video of an American wreckage juxtaposed with a voiceover of Walt Whitman reciting a poem about the opportunities of America. Visuals include symbols of decline as well as hope, a kind of Obama-era assessment (indictment?) of the state of our union, and a call for unification in moving forward, together, a "new declaration for the United States of America," as the website puts it.
And the website! While (what I believe to be) official copy features lighthearted lines like "When in the course of the human work week, it becomes necessary for one to drink 29 cups of coffee, check email 344 times, and add 92 Twitter friends, all while avoiding..." entries from visitors tend toward the undeniably thoughtful, even provocative. This is not just a consumer republic enamored of Americana; it's a nation of critiques and challenges as much as it is one of celebration and can-do spirit.
But the inevitable questions arise: What does this have to do with selling jeans?
And does the campaign succeed in repositioning a brand that has always been an icon of rugged individuality into one geared around a "one for all" mentality - all while hocking "510 Super Skinny Jeans" and the "569 Loose Straight Jean" and describing the difference between washes running from "Bjorn Blue" to "Super Destructed Light"?
(As a side note, the print campaign feels more traditionally Levi's, featuring colorful images of individuals out in the natural world, with headlines such as "Will work for better times.")
Will this campaign reset the brand for the "Yes we can" age?
Will "go forth" work at both the individual and societal (or at least group) level?
Will this campaign come to symbolize something larger than itself?
Time will tell. But undoubtedly, the campaign does work on an emotional level, and could be perfect for Levi's target demographic - or it could completely miss the mark.
How much it moves the sales needle remains to be seen.
But on its face - and judging from the activity on the website - it's striking a chord with someone.
Which is not too bad at all, for a product made of dyed, destructed, or otherwise adorned thread.
What do you think about the campaign? Go forth and tell us what you think!
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