Ooooh, what bad luck.
I heard that Wieden & Kennedy Portland had created a beautiful new campaign for Levi's.
Using a wonderful voice over - not so dissimilar to that in Honda's ads - reading out Charles Bukowski's poem The Laughing Heart, and the inspiring camera work of some fantastic footage, 'Levi's Legacy' is born.
The campaign is about embodying the energy and events of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Not about political themes or any such movements, we are encouraged to 'Go Forth' with optimism, positivity and a pioneering spirit.
The intention was to catch such youthful optimism and to recognise all of the people around the world who are stepping forward, towards a better future and thus transforming the world.
Then I hear that this exciting piece of advertising has been pulled or, "temporarily postponed".
Apparently, the ad appears to almost hero rioting which, in light of recent events across the UK couldn't be any more controversial and in bad taste.
Surely not?
As we all would be, I was really intrigued to see just how 'encouraging' it could be to the idiots that are tearing up our streets...
Look at it, don't loot it, here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn1V9v-v5us
...60 seconds later and I'm shocked.
Shocked that I had to watch it for a second time to catch half-a-second of a young man - wearing some really nice jeans - fronting up to a barrage of riot police.
Whilst this particular scene was nothing more than unlucky, given what's going on, it was hardly devastating enough to the ad, and furthermore the campaign, that it should all be pulled.
Over said scene, the poem reads "you're marvelous".
Who's to say that this was inciting, and not a warm compliment to the many protecting officers standing tall?
Maybe this is just another example of how tight our advertising laws are continually becoming.
Then I thought...
Maybe this is utter genius. A fantastic advertising campaign will always do it's job. That's what makes it so. But how to increase it's recognition, it's online hits, and then it's memory? If only there was some kind of topical unrest that would accidentally become linked with a new campaign right at its launch.
Give it a few weeks while our civil unrest is tackled. And the same few weeks for people to get wind of this 'unfortunate' ad campaign and debate it's misfortune, only for it to be relaunched in a further few weeks and BANG! (Bad choice of word?) You've got pretty much double your advertising space.
Even if this possibility is just pure coincidence, I definitely think it's worked in the favor of 'Levi's Legacy'.
And when all the dust has settled, all the shop windows have been put back in, and we've all got other things to discuss again, we can go back to admiring yet another great piece of work from Weiden & Kennedy.
