Pioneers, Oh Pioneers. Levi's Commercial (video)

I HATE the soundtrack to the Levi's commercial.  I don't care if it is Walt Whitman.  You can't tell me they couldn't get rid of the scratchiness of the recording with today's technology.  I guess they're going for "authentic," but it's still an assault on my ears.  And I didn't imagine Whitman's voice to be so annoying!

Here's an article about this Levi's ad campaign, and the recordings used.  Kind of interesting.

Originally posted by Thor Here's an article about this Levi's ad campaign, and the recordings used.  Kind of interesting.   excerpts: The previous Levi's ad campaign was titled "Live Unbuttoned." It featured smiling, attractive people dancing around to jumpy pop music. Watching those ads now, it seems clear they were conceived before the fall 2008 financial plunge. They already feel irrelevant—an attempt to capture a zeitgeist that's evaporated.   Whitman is an involuntary spokes-celebrity here, and perhaps you deem this ad a desecration of all he stood for. I can't say I blame you. But were you forced to choose a clothing line for our favorite barbaric yawper to rep, you might choose this one. Levi's is the rare American brand that was actually around when Whitman was alive. And there's logic to this match between a quintessentially American poet and a quintessentially American product. Whitman's verse allows Levi's to evoke not only its proud history but a forward-looking present—the pioneering, American mindset that Whitman captured and that Levi's hopes to embody.   That scratchy Whitman recording also sets a mood of vague disquiet. Paired with the music behind it and the startling crack of sudden fireworks, that raspy, distant voice sounds rather ominous. Where the "Live Unbuttoned" ads were about carefree self-expression, this "Go Forth" spot is about squalor and anxiety.   http://www.slate.com/id/2233597/

I love that ad for all those reasons stated.
And the cracking wax recording makes it ominous and ghostly.
I was actually moved by it. I feel Walt would get a chuckle out of the irony of him hawking jeans.  In his efforts to defy the norms (though not an anti capitalist as some have made him out to be) he maybe would like enjoy the notion that he is now a voice for pure advertising.
Like mentioned, just the visuals of people in the jeans, doing stuff in the jeans. Albeit "artsy" and subtle but very regular compared to the aforementioned previous ad.

Ok, like an idiot with Alzheimer's, I am trying to give this commercial a second chance......

LMAO,
The fact that so many of you get so worked up over a COMMERCIAL is quite amusing.
I actually like the commercial.

Using "celebrities" to sell stuff if here to stay. Meet modern Capitalism at its finest (or lowest). This certainly is not new of course, its been going on for decades.

The use of Whitmans own voice from the original wax recording is pretty cool and very appropriate I think.

Marketing is about selling an image. If you dont like it, the commercial probably was not meant for you in the first place. I have a feeling most of the complainers on here are in their late 30s or older - not really the crowd Levis was going after here.

Im in my late 40s and I thought it was entertaining from an artistic standpoint. I dont buy into any of the BS it is trying to convey about image of course. But then again, I dont buy into ANY of the BS I see on commercials. I see them for what they are and move on.

Its a helluva lot better than most commercials out there nowadays.

Originally posted by StraightDs LMAO, The fact that so many of you get so worked up over a COMMERCIAL is quite amusing. I actually like the commercial.

You joined a forum, attached to a website, called "Commercials I Hate." 

It's hard to see what, about that, is unclear.

It's commercials like that, that make me want to become a nudist. How's that for rebellion, Levi's? 

Originally posted by HollyRock Originally posted by StraightDs LMAO, The fact that so many of you get so worked up over a COMMERCIAL is quite amusing. I actually like the commercial. You joined a forum, attached to a website, called "Commercials I Hate."  It's hard to see what, about that, is unclear.

I'm completely bewildered by these ads WTF are  they saying? the statement "come my tan faced children" makes me cringe.

Ye4ah that's what he said, "tan faced" is there a problem?

Originally posted by jeroboam tan faced is in reference to being in the sun.

DOH!

I thought it was something racial never mind


I feel stupid now.

Originally posted by Synesthesia I cannot comprehend such lofty grandness over JEANS. Jeans are nothing more than blue pants. Blue canvas pants. They do not equal rebellion or being cool.

I'm sure they used to back in the day, now everyone wears them.