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new levis ad

yawn - thing's buddy

13:03 / 22.02.02

this is really rather good. without any of the overtly 'cool' or 'sexy' overtones of practically all their previous campaigns.

It's like Crouching tigger hidden xmen or summat.

running through walls and up trees towards the stars.....

right on Mr Strauss, right on.

Spatula Clarke

13:07 / 22.02.02

Yeah, it is pretty smart. Just a bit disappointed that it turned out to be for Levis, instead of something shiny and new.

The Natural Way

13:38 / 22.02.02

Me too, in the "I like" stakes!

Bear

13:40 / 22.02.02

thats weird I just posted about it on the bad adds topic (saying I liked it) - just the way I am I guess

The Natural Way

13:42 / 22.02.02

What? Powerful and psychic?

yawn - thing's buddy

13:47 / 22.02.02

....and obsessed with emoticons

Bear

13:49 / 22.02.02

I meant posting about liking an add on a thread about adds you dislike

and btw yawn I hardly ever use emoticons !

Tom Coates

16:36 / 22.02.02

The ads a favourite here as well - it's that moment where they leap free of the tree for me and kind of flail slightly in mid-air before freezing. You don't know whether they're going to fall or keep going on for ever. It's one of those 'oh, WOW' moments.

So who's going to start the discussion about huge multinationals colonising our moments of transcendental beauty?

Tom Coates

20:37 / 24.02.02

Hey would anyone here be impressed by hearing that the director of the Levi's advert - also the esteemed director of "Sexy Beast" - may have read your comments (above) earlier today.

Truly Barbelith is the coolest subcultural community that ere there were on't'internet.

Lee

09:01 / 25.02.02

I am very impressed. Sexy Beast is a fine movie, and the Levi's ad is an excellent short film, branded or otherwise.

Now, about the new Guinness ad...

Matthew Fluxington

09:08 / 25.02.02

Never saw the ads, didn't bother to go see Sexy Beast cos it's not really the kind of film I like. Nevertheless, Mr. Glazer did a good job on the Radiohead videos that he did, "Just" and "Karma Police"....

Perhaps he could join in on the music-in-adverts/mcdonalds ad threads we have going.

Sax

09:08 / 25.02.02

The new Levi's ad is certainly a damn sexy piece of television. I love the way they look at each other before bursting through the final wall - a nice bit of metaphorical shagging going on there. And they way the girl's face contorts as they run up the tree for the final push to orgasm - nice to see she comes first as well.

Saveloy

09:08 / 25.02.02

People running through walls and up trees is good, but I hate the aesthetics of the ad:

- obligatory lumpy-faced bloke ("ooh, I bet he's a bit of a character")
- obligatory grubby t-shirts
- obligatory limited palate and dingy lighting

It's the fucking-expensive-poverty-chic look, grrr. Makes me think 1990s I.D. mag (pallid model with a grubby pair of y-fronts pulled up to the armpits), and that's bad.

I hate the way they look at each other, too - the whole 'story' winds me up. Actually, it's the missing bits of story you're supposed to fill in that winds me up, but I lack the wherewithal to explain why. Perhaps I'm just a miserable old sod.

yawn - thing's buddy

09:08 / 25.02.02

yawn.

The Return Of Rothkoid

09:08 / 25.02.02

Just wondering if anyone picked the music yet? It sounds like it's either Barber or someone earlier/influenced by Beethoven. It's tantalisingly familiar, and I'll be really pissed off if it's bespoke composition...

Saveloy

09:08 / 25.02.02

Sorry Yawn, am I boring you?

Regrettable Juvenilia

10:05 / 25.02.02

I have to say I'm with Saveloy on this one - finally saw this at the weekend and couldn't quite figure out what the big deal is. I was expecting it to be one of those big jaw-dropping adrenaline moments, but somehow it just didn't click... And the aesthetic irritated, definitely. It reminded me a lot of the 'Rabbit In The Headlights' video, which I was similarly unmoved by. Something bleached out and soulless about it.

I dunno, maybe it works better at the cinema...

Sax

10:08 / 25.02.02

Well, it is just an ad, after all... A mildly diverting 30 seconds or so.

Kit-Cat Club

10:13 / 25.02.02

Rothkoid - it's Handel's 'Sarabande', apparently... which is annoying, becasue I was *so* sure it was Vivaldi.

Saveloy

10:21 / 25.02.02

Sax:
"Well, it is just an ad, after all... A mildly diverting 30 seconds or so"

Well, that's the problem. As Flyboy says, the thing plays like you're meant to get some great emotional whoosh from the 'escape into infinite possibility' or whatever. For that to work (for me anyway), I'd have to give a toss about the two characters making the escape, which is difficult given that all we've got to work with is a lumpy face, some messy hair and a meaningful look. The last people I want to see achieving fulfillment and zooming off to the stars are a couple of bloody models from Dazed and Confused.

Would be great as the climax to a film with proper characters you can sympathise with etc, just doesn't work in an ad.

[ 25-02-2002: Message edited by: Saveloy ]

Bear

10:50 / 25.02.02

Well its better than the Iceland adds...

I thought the music was Vivaldi Cello Concerto in E-Minor which is also used in Barry Lyndon (boy that sounds impressive wish I'd said it )

Less searchable M0rd4nt

13:44 / 25.02.02

At least it doesn't have the effect on me that one of the old ads had. Remember the one that had two teenagers dressing each other? I found that ludicrously erotic and I still can't bloody work out why. They weren't even my type.

The Natural Way

13:49 / 25.02.02

The last people I want to see achieving fulfillment and zooming off to the stars are a couple of bloody models from Dazed and Confused.

True. Reevaluating opinion now. Big hate coming on....

Watts

23:32 / 25.02.02

Wait, Glazer is doing Levi's advertisements somewhere? Either this particular commercial hasn't been shown in the US, or I've missed it (likely, considering the amount of television I see).

I was able to track this link down though.

T*M*U*M*A

16:11 / 26.02.02

it is, without doubt, the best advert on television.

which isnt much of an accolade.

Sleeperservice

17:02 / 26.02.02

Seen it recently. Loved it.

I like the drab & dirty, bleached out look. Mainly because I find the artificial perfection of most ads entirely repulsive and 99% of ads are like this.

Here's an idea; Cable & satellite providers have an option, like opting for the 'sports package' or the 'film package' but with this one you get no new channels. Instead you get NO ADVERTS.

I can dream can't I?

[ 26-02-2002: Message edited by: Sleeperservice ]

The Strobe

20:15 / 27.02.02

Just saw it. Superb. Everything a good ad should be - clearly product focused, but at the same time, playing on all sorts of other levels. I thought it was fab, anyhow, and just when you think they've been through enough walls, they get to those trees... great.

that

09:35 / 28.02.02

quote:Originally posted by Saveloy:

Would be great as the climax to a film with proper characters you can sympathise with etc, just doesn't work in an ad.

I agree. Not necessarily about the 'doesn't work in an ad' bit - that bit I don't really care about (I don't get the big deal about this particular advert, but then I didn't get the big deal about that friggin' Guinness ad either), but the 'would be great as the climax to a film' bit is absolutely spot on.

Spatula Clarke

21:16 / 01.07.02

Has anyone else seen the Lilt version of this ad yet? It's got to be the only time I've seen an ad directly parody another, at least another recent one.

Bill Posters

16:14 / 11.07.02

Wuz just gonna post about that. Sheeeeesh! Parody in ads is a topic in itself, but what got me - perhaps predictably - was the race thing. I mean, am I being the lastest example of political correctness gone mad, or is the white portion of the nation now laughing its collective tits off at a couple of middle-aged black women who think they're good enough to run about like the pretty white kids on the Levis ad? I dunno, I'm tired and possibly being politically paranoid, but I have a Bad Feeling about that ad and then some.

The Strobe

16:28 / 11.07.02

I just think it's a great straight parody. I mean, it made me laugh, but that doesn't mean a lot. It's inventive, funny, and it works because it's accurated right down to the "Engineered" tagline and exact reproduction of the music rather than pastiche. Yeah. That's a good ad.

gentleman loser

23:32 / 11.07.02

Again, this proves that branding works.

Yes, I'll keep saying it until it sinks in.

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