Poetry in Motion // AdWeek's Review of Levi's Go Forth Campaign →
I just read this irritatingly glowing review (it’s called “Poetry in Motion, for goodness sake) of Levis Go Forth campaign, which I mentioned last week. I know I already touched upon it - but I had a few more thoughts.. which I shared rather rashly in their comments section…
I saw one of these ads in NYC’s Spring Street 6 subway station. The copy read, “This country was not built by men in suits” - which someone added to in matching handwritten scrawl: “[IT WAS BUILT] BY SLAVES”. Up to that point, I hadn’t been able to put my finger on what it was about the campaign that made me feel so uneasy. But with that bit of graffiti, it all came together. Levis (or rather W+K) is glorifying these centuries old American ideals - Optimism! Egoism! Manifest Destiny! - while making paltry gestures towards the reality of American history and what America is today. Besides the few ethnic actors in the video, their print campaign is disappointingly monochromatic and seems almost unapologetically alienating. It would have been really amazing to see Levis pay homage to the symbols of true individuality from our past - the freedom riders, abolitionists, suffragists, veterans.”The Frontier” is sexy and all, but how about some real American heroes?
