Levis Jeans

Levi's Essay

In 1982 the sales of Levi 501's decreased immensely. They no longer had the attraction they held in the fifties, an emotionally charged period associated with youth, sex, rebellion and heroism. Levis wanted to appeal to the young generation instead of having the label, 'dads old work clothes'. They wanted to reach out to people who would desire the jeans for their unusual look, but also for their originality and classic status. Levis intention was to lower the age profile of the brand's consumers. The young generation is the largest market but is also the hardest to break. Brands and labels were appearing that teenagers aspired to more because of their genuine novelty. It was vital for the 501's to be accepted with the growing boo of change in fashion, instead of being placed back on the shelf.

Research showed that the intended target audience for Levi's 501s - 15- to 19-year-olds - saw the United States of the fifties and sixties as a cool time and place in history. James Dean, Elvis Presley and Sam Cooke all belonged to this mythical, wondrous world. Unless the ad agencies came up with something new, Levi's 501s would be put back on the shelf and seen as work clothing. Their new approach ranged from launderettes to beaches, all featuring an emphasis on physical attraction. Consequently lust entered the ad agencies agenda.

Lust is best described as desire for excitement, or the need to be accepted or recognized by others. In all of the Levi's adverts different themes run through them, but subliminal sex appeal is a major factor of each of them. Lust is one of the seven deadly sins, and in a time of nonconformity and going against the rules, desire and sex were seen as a provocative way to differentiate things between the young and older generation.

Very attractive men, with admired physiques are used to represent the characters that wear the jeans. The men all turn heads in the advertisements wherever they walk, whether by both men and women. Women wanting this particular character, and men envious, wanting to be 'in his shoes'.

One of the adverts released, portrays this later theme by using a very exciting genre. At the opening of the advert, there is a shot of a man in very bland army uniform leaning against the window of a laundry shop representing the old and boring fashion. This is followed by a gorgeous model, Nick Kamen, stripping down to his boxer shorts in the launderette, while flustered women and bemused elders looked on. He then sits in his underwear and waits while his jeans are washed.

Close up shots are used to great effect in this advert. One of the shots focuses on the model's teasing eyes as he enters the launderette. A second; Nick's rear when he slowly and seductively slides his belt out of his jeans. A third, when he removes the paper from his back pocket and a fourth of his crotch as he removes his trousers and they drop to the floor. The last three shots help to show the audience the style of jean, and identify the brand but all four of them have the underlying theme of sex.

All this and Marvin Gaye's 'Heard it through the grape vine' (which was a number one hit at the time) thrown in made the commercial very appealing to the younger generation. The commercial made those jeans sexy at a time when Levi's were struggling to make their product appealing to women and men of the period. Suddenly those jeans became a must-have item. People only wanted them because Nick Kamen wore them, and, took them off. It sparked off a series of classic retro 50s-style ads which increased sales of Levi jeans by 800% by 1986. It reputedly