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Levi’s and BBH Made TV Commercial Magic
SourceEcreative takes a look back at over two decades of arresting TV commercial work for Levi’s from BBH in London, which proved to be one of the industry’s most celebrated agency - client partnerships.
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Levi’s and BBH Made TV Commercial Magic
SourceEcreative takes a look back at over two decades of arresting TV commercial work for Levi’s from BBH in London, which proved to be one of the industry’s most celebrated agency/client partnerships.
The setting was the editorial offices of Creativity magazine in New York, the time was the early to mid-1990s. The work we were watching was the often amazing TV commercials being created and produced by a bunch of Brits at Bartle Bogle Hegarty for that most iconic of American brands, Levi’s.
It’s easy to forget that this agency-client relationship—which is soon ending after a remarkable 28-year tenure—produced some of the most attention-getting, startling TV advertising of its time. Back in the day, Levi’s work from BBH often put US work for the brand to shame, and was typically the talk of Cannes. In the process, a procession of some of the world’s best directors--from Tarsem to Michel Gondry to Jonathan Glazer to Frank Budgen--produced some of their best work, creating images and stories that are as enduring today as they were when they first hit the airwaves almost three decades ago. (For a more in-depth look at BBH’s work for the brand, SourceEcreative members can click here.)
Go back to Tarsem’s “Swimmer” spot, now almost 20 years old, in which a hunky Levi’s-wearing guy goes from backyard to backyard, making his way through gaudy suburban pools, to the oohs and ahhs of the ladies. Or the black and white Vaughn & Anthea spot titled “Creek,” from 1993, shot in what looked like Ansel Adam’s backyard, in which the prim and proper daughters of a minister spy on a sexy young hunk who’s taking a dip in the river.
Often this work celebrated American icons or American pop culture, whether it was the controversial “Voodoo” spot that was shot in New Orleans or the countless commercials shot in the American West or “Wasted,” the 1995 winner spot with the sexy blonde bank robber who dashes into a seedy men’s room of some hot and dusty gas station somewhere in the South to do a quick change of her getaway outfit in front of what she assumes is a good-looking blind man holding a white cane.
Typically, the work was always sexually charged, filled with innuendo and laden with meaning, even if it was close to impossible to figure out what it meant. Take “Odyssey,” directed by Jonathan Glazer back in 2002, in which a young couple—both appropriately gaunt, sexy and casting smoldering looks at each other, continue running through walls before racing up a tree and catapulting themselves off into space.
The tag on this was “Freedom to Move,” which was typical of the over-the-top visual concepts in all of BBH’s work for the brand—they were always tied to some product benefit, like being stone-washed, or held together with actual rivets, not stitches.
Gondry’s work for the brand deserves mention here—his two best-known spots may well be “Drugstore,” from 1994, and “Mermaid,” from 1996. Both were wordless tales of young love told in unexpected ways, with Levi’s playing key supporting roles. In the former, set in the American South in what appears to be the 1920s, a young, good-looking farm boy buys a tin of condoms and slips them in the watch pocket of his jeans; when he arrives to collect his date, her father turns out to be the druggist who sold them to him earlier in the day. The tagline, again, is priceless: “Watch pocket created in 1873. Abused ever since.”
“Mermaid” features a boat that capsizes, sending our young stud to the bottom, where he’s rescued by the breath of life passed on from a bevy of equally sexy young mermaids. After reviving him, they’re frustrated in their efforts to yank off his jeans, because as the graphic tells us, they’re ‘shrink to fit.’
What struck everyone about the best of the BBH work for the brand back then was that it was so strikingly different than anything we’d seen here—and, more interestingly, that the agency was very shrewdly marketing its pan-European advertising to an audience of US-based ad agency creatives and clients. This, of course, was way before you could log on to SourceEcreative to watch pretty much anything you wanted. TV spots then, particularly from markets outside the US, were seen only on showreels or at awards shows.
BBH generated tons of great press in trades like Ad Age and Adweek for its Levi’s work, which helped build the agency’s brand in international markets (presaging its opening in Singapore and New York) and softening up awards show judges who would be watching the work again months later in the jury rooms of the One Show, the Clios and Cannes.
Over the years the tone and tenor of BBH’s work for Levi’s began to change—the looks of the kids were always contemporary, yet the product went unisex; no longer were Levi’s the Axe of its day, guaranteed to draw the fairer sex. Now, like in “Twist,” the 2001 Dom & Nic spot, which features “Twilight”-looking kids, both male and female, twisting each other’s limbs into gruesome contortions as they promote Levi’s line of Engineered Jeans, “twisted to fit,” of course.
Sir John Hegarty famously used to say that what BBH did best was make brands famous. The Levi’s work his agency created—with countless writers, art directors, producers, directors, editors, VFX artists, composers, etc., pitching in—not only helped make the brand famous, it also helped make BBH famous. That brand perception of doing smart, savvy and often sexy work for top global advertisers remains with the agency today.
SourceEcreative takes a look back at over two decades of arresting TV commercial work for Levi’s from BBH in London, which proved to be one of the industry’s most celebrated agency/client partnerships.
By Anthony Vagnoni
Those were the days. A DHL package would arrive from London. Inside would be a specially-prepared 3/4 inch Umatic tape in the NTSC video format, fresh from the dubbing house. The staff would drop what they were doing and quickly check to make sure the conference room was empty. We’d power up the Sony deck, pop the cassette in and wait to see what those guys in the UK had cooked up this time.
“Creek,” directed by Vaughn & Anthea.
It’s easy to forget that this agency-client relationship—which is soon ending after a remarkable 28-year tenure—produced some of the most attention-getting, startling TV advertising of its time. Back in the day, Levi’s work from BBH often put US work for the brand to shame, and was typically the talk of Cannes. In the process, a procession of some of the world’s best directors--from Tarsem to Michel Gondry to Jonathan Glazer to Frank Budgen--produced some of their best work, creating images and stories that are as enduring today as they were when they first hit the airwaves almost three decades ago. (For a more in-depth look at BBH’s work for the brand, SourceEcreative members can click here.)
“Wasted,” directed by Tarsem.
Often this work celebrated American icons or American pop culture, whether it was the controversial “Voodoo” spot that was shot in New Orleans or the countless commercials shot in the American West or “Wasted,” the 1995 winner spot with the sexy blonde bank robber who dashes into a seedy men’s room of some hot and dusty gas station somewhere in the South to do a quick change of her getaway outfit in front of what she assumes is a good-looking blind man holding a white cane.
“Odyssey,” directed by Jonathan Glazer.
The tag on this was “Freedom to Move,” which was typical of the over-the-top visual concepts in all of BBH’s work for the brand—they were always tied to some product benefit, like being stone-washed, or held together with actual rivets, not stitches.
Gondry’s work for the brand deserves mention here—his two best-known spots may well be “Drugstore,” from 1994, and “Mermaid,” from 1996. Both were wordless tales of young love told in unexpected ways, with Levi’s playing key supporting roles. In the former, set in the American South in what appears to be the 1920s, a young, good-looking farm boy buys a tin of condoms and slips them in the watch pocket of his jeans; when he arrives to collect his date, her father turns out to be the druggist who sold them to him earlier in the day. The tagline, again, is priceless: “Watch pocket created in 1873. Abused ever since.”
“Drugstore,” directed by Michel Gondry.
What struck everyone about the best of the BBH work for the brand back then was that it was so strikingly different than anything we’d seen here—and, more interestingly, that the agency was very shrewdly marketing its pan-European advertising to an audience of US-based ad agency creatives and clients. This, of course, was way before you could log on to SourceEcreative to watch pretty much anything you wanted. TV spots then, particularly from markets outside the US, were seen only on showreels or at awards shows.
“Mermaid,” also from Gondry.
Over the years the tone and tenor of BBH’s work for Levi’s began to change—the looks of the kids were always contemporary, yet the product went unisex; no longer were Levi’s the Axe of its day, guaranteed to draw the fairer sex. Now, like in “Twist,” the 2001 Dom & Nic spot, which features “Twilight”-looking kids, both male and female, twisting each other’s limbs into gruesome contortions as they promote Levi’s line of Engineered Jeans, “twisted to fit,” of course.
Sir John Hegarty famously used to say that what BBH did best was make brands famous. The Levi’s work his agency created—with countless writers, art directors, producers, directors, editors, VFX artists, composers, etc., pitching in—not only helped make the brand famous, it also helped make BBH famous. That brand perception of doing smart, savvy and often sexy work for top global advertisers remains with the agency today.
Published July 22, 2010
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