Levi's 501 Advert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u06rDf-kUt0

The Levi’s laundry advert can be seen as one of the most iconic advertising campaigns of its time. Through the power of sex and desire Levi’s managed to alter their brand reception in to something wanted by many.

The brand Levi’s was established in 1873, the patent for the rivets which were used to strengthen the pockets of the jeans made them unique; this made the jeans a practical item. They were worn by working class as they were durable and hard wearing.

The changing of this brand identity from the practical sense to the fashionable came in the 1985, with the promotion of the stonewash jean in a tv advert featuring model Nick Kamen. The advert shows a small town in America in the 1950’s. Nick Kamen the model and actor in this advert walks into the laundrette to the backing of Marvin Gaye’s Through the Grapevine the song choice aids in the imagery of the brand being exclusive whilst creating a retro theme fitting of the time period displayed in the ad. The idea of the ‘Grapevine’ shadows that of the intensions of the advert that word of mouth will gain more interest and people will want to watch due to the hype surrounding it. The actor is modeled on the image of James Dean, a popular movie star and rebellious figure who wore blue jeans. A sense of youth is created due to the age of the model and the styling of the Ray Ban sunglasses. The jeans are highlighted due to the plain t-shirt and lack of other clothing. The advert shows the actor put stones in to the washing machine adding a sense of intrigue to the audience. Two young boys watch him do this showing that the youth aspire to be like him and want to look like him. He then continues to strip until he is just in his underwear, captivating the attention of his fellow laundrette uses. The strong use of sex appeal is used in this advert and creates the idea that you too can achieve a high level of sex appeal by wearing Levi’s jeans.

The brand has further created a sense of exclusivity through the labelling of their jeans and the naming of them such as the “501” this advert has managed to turn the average jean in to an iconic symbol that should be worn by all who aspire to be as “cool” and to hold as much sex appeal as Nick Kamen does in this advert