Sage marketing advice! I’m fed up with all these corporations pretending they want to save the world when all they really want to do is sell product and make money. Which is fine - just be honest about it!
Your analysis is about more than marketing. It goes to the very psyche of modern culture. We are obsessed with death. Look at popular culture. Zombies everywhere. Death images everywhere. Apocalyptic films and political campaigns. Why? Is it because life has no meaning or purpose? Your Live in Levi's campaign would at least be hopeful and aspirational. Great stuff, Jen.
Long before the iphone, Erich Fromm said, "The “tourist” with his camera is an outstanding symbol of an alienated relationship to the world. Being constantly occupied with taking pictures, actually he does not see anything at all, except through the intermediary of the camera. The camera sees for him, and the outcome of his “pleasure” trip is a collection of snapshots, which are the substitute for an experience which he could have had, but did not have.”
I think of this when I see people recording a graduation ceremony, wedding or birth of a child. So sad.
Obsessed with death yet, Westerners can't seem to come to terms with it. We obsess and fear over it at the same time which makes it grim, bleak and macabre.
Death in many cultures is a fact of life and is meant to be met with grace and dignity.
We're immature in the West as well as gripped with a mental illness issue in our midst.
Hey Yuri, my husband and I are huge fans of your escape from New York essays. We’ve shared them far and wide. Power to you.
I have a comment elsewhere in this thread and my husband just noticed while reading my feedback that you are contributing here as well. 💪🧠 Yuri & Jennifer.
I love this analysis especially coming from marketing perspective. Levi’s loss. I spent many years at Fallon and could totally relate to the comments about creatives winning award shows. It was constant tension between clients/account teams and creatives. Once in while we would hit a home run like the BMW films.
I interviewed for a planner position at Fallon around the time they were winning all the awards for Miller Lite / Dick the creative genius. They asked me my opinion of the work. As a 23 year old seeking his first job in planning, I chose to tell the truth thinking they might value honesty. I was wrong. I said, I don't think the Miller Lite target audience knows what a creative is but the ads are funny and winning a lot of awards. I received a letter a few days later saying I didn't fit in with the Fallon culture.
The more woke they go, the more I care for my existing Levi's. I don't want to be giving these guys any more of my hard earned. Thinking of shelving a pair under glass, with a 'Break Only in Emergency'.
I think I like your marketing dissections' almost as much as your political skewering. The comments about creative directors at agencies "wishing they were...." rang so so true. They think they are artists. Focused on their own "art" and what accolades they will get. Not actually doing the work to make their client successful, instead hoping that somehow they will be "discovered" and go on to greatness outside the agency world. Yeah, right.
I left a secure, relatively cushy job in a marketing role just because I could see that the true believer employees who actually worked for the company were being pushed aside by an ad agency empowered by cowardly management only worried about the short term. I couldn't stand to watch what I had helped build slowly be deconstructed into a ghost with no soul or relevance which is where my former employer is today. I have missed the pay, but after 10 years I have finally help build a new organization to the point where I am making a little more than I was 10 years ago (well, still less because we are talking 2023 vs 2012 dollars). But to see where I would have been, either well paid and miserable or gone NOT on my own terms, I am happy with my choices.
There should be more blame of the current BS situation of the world put on the ad and marketing execs who swallow the crap and then feed it back out to the world as either the truth or something more important than it is. Jennifer, please keep shining the light of hypocrisy on "Cause Marketing." In too many cases the company claiming to do good for a cause are not doing good to employees or really shareholders. And often the result is the world (and their companies) are worse off as these charlatans congratulate each other on how good and smart and elite they are.
geez, we are all myopic vis a vis the ad biz...'Who' is pulling their strings...no different from politics, culture & sports...all is going according to the thousand year script... it's the Diktat, alas.
We haven't watched TV in years so I didn't even know about these desperate ad campaigns. Add Levi's to the growing list of self-righteous, virtue-signaling brands I will stop buying. Honestly, I'm just tried of being preached at... especially over a stupid pair of pants.
I believe there's a disconnect between what corporations perceive as popular (based on social media) and what people actually want. Algorithms determine which topics get air time on social media, not the end user. Important to note: Algorithms don't buy pants.
Guess we know what Levi's will be wearing at their corporate funeral.
I'm 74 and have outlived more than 20 pair of Levi's and I still have 2 old and 2 'new' in my closet. I'm proud to say that Levi's have spoken for me all my life and I've never imagined that I'd wear them to my final toasting. I guess I'll have to leave instructions to separate me from my pants first.
Jennifer, my family (Cone) was hand-in-glove with Levi for decades! My husband, David Bulluck, still works with them making jeans in Mexico. He is concerned about the future of blue jeans.
Come Mills rocks and is a huge part of Levi’s success...28” looms, legit red selvage markings and absolutely beautiful heavy weight denim for 501’s...delighted to have my Cone Mills memories 🔥
I have some, never worn! I also have a very old, worn pair of kids' overalls in Cone denim that my husband bought on eBay. He had them beautifully framed and gave to my dad years ago.
Jennifer, I am a new subscriber to your Substack based on your HighWire interview today. I was impressed with you in a previous interview on another portal that I closely attend, so thank you for mentioning your Substack in the forum of Del’s interview. My friends are talking right now about your strength. Thank you for exercising this heroic behavior of personal fortitude to us as your age bracket peers and certainly to the next generation. The discussion around the 34 minute mark when spoke about honing one's strength against ostracization resonated strongly here. I sporadically found my strength in such a manner as a child, but cemented it over the last three years. The manner in which you spoke during the interview brought tears to my eyes, but they are happy tears, meaning a gut reaction of honesty and truth that is hard to find nowadays. I am typically stoic and cry only when something touches a nerve. Please keep doing what you’re doing. It matters.
My pleasure. This world is far too saturated with negative feedback. It’s important to laud positive brave efforts . We need more people out there who extend themselves in such a manner. I’m trying to take similar steps and have been successful thus far. I’m happy to have you on “my team”.
My mom died 4 months ago, my best friend 2 months ago. Last thing I wanted to see when trying to distract my mind with fluff tv was an ad taking place at a funeral and a “dead” person in a casket wearing 501’s. Currently all my jeans are Levi’s but this ad is tacky and turning me off of the company. I never get riled up by stupid advertisements like this to the point where I vent on the internet. But this one was so dumb it compelled me to google “Levi 501 stupid funeral commercial” which brought me to this article.
Jennifer - great commentary. I had been a Levi’s lifer until the anti gun campaigns. Donated all 4 pair I had and haven’t looked back. I don’t want politics from my brands...not even politics I agree with. The fun message you were running...that is exactly what I’m looking for. The world is plenty serious. Help me escape that with your brand messaging and I’m yours.
Boy, is the world of advertising missing you, along with some large company in great need of saving! Your creative juices continue to flow. I can’t wait for your documentary to come out so I can watch that brilliance up on the big screen!!
Sage marketing advice! I’m fed up with all these corporations pretending they want to save the world when all they really want to do is sell product and make money. Which is fine - just be honest about it!
Your analysis is about more than marketing. It goes to the very psyche of modern culture. We are obsessed with death. Look at popular culture. Zombies everywhere. Death images everywhere. Apocalyptic films and political campaigns. Why? Is it because life has no meaning or purpose? Your Live in Levi's campaign would at least be hopeful and aspirational. Great stuff, Jen.
Thank you Ed!
And, on the other hand, a culture obsessed with uploading their memories to the cloud so their consciousness can live on!
To fully embrace death one must have fully embraced life. Few have.
This reminds me of the song 'Picture Book' by The Kinks.
"Picture book, pictures of your mama
Taken by your papa, a long time ago
Picture book of people with each other
To prove they love each other, a long time ago"
Long before the iphone, Erich Fromm said, "The “tourist” with his camera is an outstanding symbol of an alienated relationship to the world. Being constantly occupied with taking pictures, actually he does not see anything at all, except through the intermediary of the camera. The camera sees for him, and the outcome of his “pleasure” trip is a collection of snapshots, which are the substitute for an experience which he could have had, but did not have.”
I think of this when I see people recording a graduation ceremony, wedding or birth of a child. So sad.
Me too! Also, all the selfies make this alienation even worse!
Obsessed with death yet, Westerners can't seem to come to terms with it. We obsess and fear over it at the same time which makes it grim, bleak and macabre.
Death in many cultures is a fact of life and is meant to be met with grace and dignity.
We're immature in the West as well as gripped with a mental illness issue in our midst.
DIE in Levi’s is accurate given their surrender to the DEI mob
Hey Yuri, my husband and I are huge fans of your escape from New York essays. We’ve shared them far and wide. Power to you.
I have a comment elsewhere in this thread and my husband just noticed while reading my feedback that you are contributing here as well. 💪🧠 Yuri & Jennifer.
Not to put too fine a point on it...but for THIS they paid $20 million?
That's why Levi's are $80.00/pair.
I love this analysis especially coming from marketing perspective. Levi’s loss. I spent many years at Fallon and could totally relate to the comments about creatives winning award shows. It was constant tension between clients/account teams and creatives. Once in while we would hit a home run like the BMW films.
I interviewed for a planner position at Fallon around the time they were winning all the awards for Miller Lite / Dick the creative genius. They asked me my opinion of the work. As a 23 year old seeking his first job in planning, I chose to tell the truth thinking they might value honesty. I was wrong. I said, I don't think the Miller Lite target audience knows what a creative is but the ads are funny and winning a lot of awards. I received a letter a few days later saying I didn't fit in with the Fallon culture.
Silly rabbit! Truth is for suckers!
The more woke they go, the more I care for my existing Levi's. I don't want to be giving these guys any more of my hard earned. Thinking of shelving a pair under glass, with a 'Break Only in Emergency'.
I think I like your marketing dissections' almost as much as your political skewering. The comments about creative directors at agencies "wishing they were...." rang so so true. They think they are artists. Focused on their own "art" and what accolades they will get. Not actually doing the work to make their client successful, instead hoping that somehow they will be "discovered" and go on to greatness outside the agency world. Yeah, right.
I left a secure, relatively cushy job in a marketing role just because I could see that the true believer employees who actually worked for the company were being pushed aside by an ad agency empowered by cowardly management only worried about the short term. I couldn't stand to watch what I had helped build slowly be deconstructed into a ghost with no soul or relevance which is where my former employer is today. I have missed the pay, but after 10 years I have finally help build a new organization to the point where I am making a little more than I was 10 years ago (well, still less because we are talking 2023 vs 2012 dollars). But to see where I would have been, either well paid and miserable or gone NOT on my own terms, I am happy with my choices.
There should be more blame of the current BS situation of the world put on the ad and marketing execs who swallow the crap and then feed it back out to the world as either the truth or something more important than it is. Jennifer, please keep shining the light of hypocrisy on "Cause Marketing." In too many cases the company claiming to do good for a cause are not doing good to employees or really shareholders. And often the result is the world (and their companies) are worse off as these charlatans congratulate each other on how good and smart and elite they are.
geez, we are all myopic vis a vis the ad biz...'Who' is pulling their strings...no different from politics, culture & sports...all is going according to the thousand year script... it's the Diktat, alas.
We haven't watched TV in years so I didn't even know about these desperate ad campaigns. Add Levi's to the growing list of self-righteous, virtue-signaling brands I will stop buying. Honestly, I'm just tried of being preached at... especially over a stupid pair of pants.
I believe there's a disconnect between what corporations perceive as popular (based on social media) and what people actually want. Algorithms determine which topics get air time on social media, not the end user. Important to note: Algorithms don't buy pants.
Guess we know what Levi's will be wearing at their corporate funeral.
I was a teenager in the 80s and 501 jeans were the rage. Fly buttons as a zipper....whaaaa?
I'm 74 and have outlived more than 20 pair of Levi's and I still have 2 old and 2 'new' in my closet. I'm proud to say that Levi's have spoken for me all my life and I've never imagined that I'd wear them to my final toasting. I guess I'll have to leave instructions to separate me from my pants first.
;-)
Right? I wear them ALL the time and still, do not want to be my last outfit. I don't think. I'll ponder.
Jennifer, my family (Cone) was hand-in-glove with Levi for decades! My husband, David Bulluck, still works with them making jeans in Mexico. He is concerned about the future of blue jeans.
I know Cone well.
Come Mills rocks and is a huge part of Levi’s success...28” looms, legit red selvage markings and absolutely beautiful heavy weight denim for 501’s...delighted to have my Cone Mills memories 🔥
I have some, never worn! I also have a very old, worn pair of kids' overalls in Cone denim that my husband bought on eBay. He had them beautifully framed and gave to my dad years ago.
Jennifer, I am a new subscriber to your Substack based on your HighWire interview today. I was impressed with you in a previous interview on another portal that I closely attend, so thank you for mentioning your Substack in the forum of Del’s interview. My friends are talking right now about your strength. Thank you for exercising this heroic behavior of personal fortitude to us as your age bracket peers and certainly to the next generation. The discussion around the 34 minute mark when spoke about honing one's strength against ostracization resonated strongly here. I sporadically found my strength in such a manner as a child, but cemented it over the last three years. The manner in which you spoke during the interview brought tears to my eyes, but they are happy tears, meaning a gut reaction of honesty and truth that is hard to find nowadays. I am typically stoic and cry only when something touches a nerve. Please keep doing what you’re doing. It matters.
Wow -- this made my day. thank you for the lovely words.
My pleasure. This world is far too saturated with negative feedback. It’s important to laud positive brave efforts . We need more people out there who extend themselves in such a manner. I’m trying to take similar steps and have been successful thus far. I’m happy to have you on “my team”.
Couldn't agree more. Positive feedback keeps me going! Grateful to be on your team and stand with you.
My mom died 4 months ago, my best friend 2 months ago. Last thing I wanted to see when trying to distract my mind with fluff tv was an ad taking place at a funeral and a “dead” person in a casket wearing 501’s. Currently all my jeans are Levi’s but this ad is tacky and turning me off of the company. I never get riled up by stupid advertisements like this to the point where I vent on the internet. But this one was so dumb it compelled me to google “Levi 501 stupid funeral commercial” which brought me to this article.
Interesting you had such a reaction you googled "stupid funeral commercial"! And i'm glad you found this because of it. Thank you for reading.
You mean riots don't sell jeans? Who woulda thought?!
Jennifer - great commentary. I had been a Levi’s lifer until the anti gun campaigns. Donated all 4 pair I had and haven’t looked back. I don’t want politics from my brands...not even politics I agree with. The fun message you were running...that is exactly what I’m looking for. The world is plenty serious. Help me escape that with your brand messaging and I’m yours.
Boy, is the world of advertising missing you, along with some large company in great need of saving! Your creative juices continue to flow. I can’t wait for your documentary to come out so I can watch that brilliance up on the big screen!!