Pioneers… oh pioneers… come my tanned faced children… get your weapons ready… have you your pistols?
Yes! Yes! Yes! Within this 30 second advertisement I had become a young person ready to fight. For what I was unsure, but mesmerized I would do whatever Levi’s “Go Forth” was telling me to do.
I am in the process of tracking down someone from Widen and Kennerdy, the brains and company behind this remarkable campaign, and get them talk: What was the intention behind the campaign? The reaction from young people? How does the videography stir the audience? Any other questions do suggest. Just remember… “Go Forth” even if it is just grab a coffee.
Click on “read more” to see the ad.
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I think it’s horrible that this commercial made no mention to the fact that it’s actually a Walt Whitman poem and is capitalizing on a poem that does NOT represent what’s being shown in the commercial. Ugh. As someone who studies literature, I was extremely disappointed in this commercial.
I agree, as a fellow literature enthusiast, it brings me sorrow to see works of beauty, of art, such as this to be used as something so simple as an advertisement, at that, with no credit to the artist.
But on another note, it brings me joy to see an almost unknown poem resurrected. Even with no credit given, people who haven’t heard it, will go and find out. It is beautiful, and they will see that. People who may otherwise never have heard it, will have a new door opened for them.
as one of whitman’s, uh… homophile literary descendents, this ad captures whitman’s truly countercultural love of the human body expressed in the stripping off activity repeated over and over in the clip…
I love this commercial, not for selling jeans but for inspiring me. I never heard of the peom before, but have read it at least 10 times since.
you so clearly don’t get it
True, but if not for this commercial, some of us less well read individuals may not find these works which can encourage us to read more.
This is absolutely true – it was the commercial that inspired me to locate and read the entire poem. I soon realized the meaning behind the poem and the campaign were different, but it was interesting to know that the dust was brushed off this historic piece of work and utilized in the modern media. I hope that it also inspired others to learn more about the words quoted in the commercial, given that they are truly moving and inspirational.
your a fag.
Why dont you at least learn some grammar in order to “insult” someone? Properly, it would be you’re a fag.
Though I don’t care that they did not mention it was a Whitman poem or have anything to do with the poem’s meaning I love this commercial because I like the reading of it. It strikes a chord with me. However, that chord is certainly not “Go Forth and buy some Levi jeans”
I have to disagree with this. I understand what the original intent of the poem was meant to be, but at the same time, is that not the beauty of a great poem, that it is timeless, and the meanings can be so vast? This commercial was cinematographically gorgeous, and the message they were conveying was, in fact, extremely relevant to the poem. Basically, there is a new generation of “pioneers,” not of the same breed as before, but with the same task ahead of them.
As far as not creditting Whitman, I agree that they could have done this, and it may have been better if they had, but at the same time, at least they’re using him, and even verbatim, where the poem is easy to look up and read.
Ok….this is a general comment to most of the comments I have read on this blog. I am not a lit major but do appreciate it when i read or hear it. When i first heard the commercial I knew that the word were probably not derived from a modern ad agency. I thought maybe they were from a famous author or from another famous quote from the distant past. Tonight after seeing it again I decided to look it up and voila! I came to discover that it was a poem by Walt. So I am yet another person that has come in contact with a legend and his writings and may even be prompted to investigate or buy some books to learn more about his writings. And look at the length of this blog. Look at how many people have discovered W’s writings because of this commercial! How many people have searched, then found his writings because of this commercial and may now be inspired to write their own masterpiece. Who knows but it is possible isn’t it. And all because some capitalist company stole it for the sole purpose of making a profit. Maybe there was some theft, maybe it is not a true representation but so what! I for one am grateful that the commercial is being aired because I was inspired to look and then found this great poem and discovered who wrote it. What is the alternative….never use the clasic poems, keep them hidden so they get put on a shelf and forgotten??? Wouldn’t that be a greater crime? How many other great poems, novels, or writers have been put on a shelf and been forgotten? Big picture folks….big picture…..
But have you ever thought how many new minds have become interested in poetry now. Sometimes it is easier to introduce something unwillingly through curiosity by misdirection.
Go forth and do.
Um, I think the brains behind the commercial belong to Walt Whitman (look it up).
Great art, as you know from studying literature, is stolen, not created. Levi is simply translating a dead poem and making it relevant to us. The death of our fathers of literature is the process of creating art. You have to kill the past in order to launch the future.
“making it relevant to us”. Connecting art with a commercial product is not “making it relevant” to me. Considering it is painfully obvious that they are not trying to advance art for arts sake, or trying to make us more enlightened, I’m not sure where you are going with this one. They are trying to sell Jeans, plain and simple. “great art is stolen”… don’t you know you aren’t supposed to take these cliches so literally!? Inspired yes, exact replica, no… Finally, its more than clear that they are not trying to “kill the past in order to launch the future”. Commercialism, pure and simple.
This might be a fallacy, though; the two are not mutually exclusive.
Uh, shut up. Just appreciate that it is a good commercial and quit crying about “commercialization.” did he not write the poem to be heard? Who cares how it reached people, as long as it did. “I’m a lit major and I cry about things because that’s all my degree is good for; crying and studying about what other great people wrote.” quit being a typical lit major.
Nobody makes real art “to be heard.” No real artist cares who they “reach.” Not everything is about reaching as many people as possible for profit, and I hope you realize that someday. These commercials misused and misrepresented a dead man’s work.
Artists do want to be heard, regardless. Being and continuously studying great art and creators, they are all saying something. There are several ‘artists’ in this video and all of them are saying different things. The fact that Levi’s puts their name at the end of this does not take away from the works themselves. Levi’s is simply hoping that they will then be able to reach the inspired.
Who does the narration–it’s excellent. I didn’t really even pay attention what it was advertising, just enjoyed the words… I’m glad the word of Walt Whitman are being shared with the general public–God knows they would never be heard otherwise.
If it wasn’t for that commercial I would not have Googled “Pioneers O’ Pioneers” and discovered the poetry of Walt Whitman. All I knew about the man was that they named a rest stop after him on the Jersey Turnpike. Great commercial!
On this i agree (also a mall in Huntington, NY)
True story!
I think that the narrator might be Johnny Cash, but I’m not sure.
Not Johnny Cash but this narrator has a musical voice. I agree with Sam. Although it saddens me that people know of Whitman from a television commercial, at least its a medium for people learn. “Go Forth”
The voice is an original recording of Walt Whitman speaking at the Smithsonian. It is recorded on a wax cylinder and believed to be one of the oldest remaining voice recordings in existence.
Thank you so much RANDY for your info.
I believe the voice is Burgess Meridth
Think soviet pioneer movement. The poem is Walt Whitman, but the images are those of the pioneer youth movement of Communist Russia.
The narration is actually Walt Whitman. It’s an old recording of him reading his poem from the Smithsonian.
Johnny Cash from beyond the grave?
Simply put, this commercial led me to google “pioneers oh pioneers”. The commercial created interest, and I learned something. Kudos to Levi’s for inspiring youth to be inquisitive. For those of you who think it’s a horror that Walt’s poem was used to sell jeans, simmer down. It appealed more to me than half naked skinny models laying on top of each other which seems to be the markting approach of other jean manufacturers.
I doubt that it is Whitman speaking. While there is a (somewhat) restored 1890 version of a 36-second wax cylinder recording of “what is thought to be Whitman’s voice reading the first four lines of his poem America” up on wikipedia – this reading of “Pioneers Oh Pioneers” has a 1950′s flavor and sound quality to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Walt_Whitman_-_America.ogg
True. It has a 50′s flavor.
I thought it was a Beatnik poem.
The voice reminds me of William S. Burroughs in “Drugstore Cowboy”.
…even dead poets/artists deserve a byline. Creativity, Walt Whitman, product, Levi. Otherwise, it’s called stealing. Haven’t corporations stolen enough?
It’s also called public domain…
I don’t get why people are so upset its being used in a commercial marketing context. If the work is good, its application isn’t going to cheapen the source material. I have a degree in American Poetry, and I’m sensing a lot of literary elitism in these posts – as if there is an implicit disdain for those who discovered Whitman by way of Levi’s.
Would you rather it be lyrics and music by the latest winner of “American Idol”?
There’s a smug hypocrisy here, based on a resentment that laypeople have discovered some treasure. That hypocrisy is leading to a lot of banal statements, such as assertions about what motivates all artists, and what Whitman meant, etc.
While I was familiar with the poem, I’m siding with the folks who came to it by way of the boob tube. I’d rather have advertisers recycle what was essentially “dead art” and bring it back to the public consciousness, then use current pop garbage that certainly does nothing to enlighten.
On a tangent – it seems weird that people can be so self-righteous about the very right for this ad to exist. If you actually reading and writing instead of loafing around watching commercials – you wouldn’t have seen this soul-destroying, culture-obliterating advertisement in the first place.
You can find and buy the recordings from the Smithsonian here:
http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=1688
This is the best thing I’ve seen on tv in a long time. Who cares what the commercial is selling (although it is brilliant advertising), if it gets a generation of kids to google Whitman and think about what those words mean?
Brilliant advertising that passes a torch of empowerment to youth while illuminating Whitman’s timeless words.
I’m not a lit major, but have been writing poetry all my life.
Although, I am familiar with Walt Whitman, if it were not for this commercial, I would have never googled “Pioneers oh pioneers…” or read this particular poem.
So for that, I guess I am grateful.
Could the voice be Jack Kerouac?
No… it could not…
im not any kind of student, except a student of life. I saw this commercial while watching a football game and was completely taken away. I got off the couch and started to look up Pioneer! O, Pioneer! regardless of who wrote it and how it was portrayed in the commercial, I learned a new poem that I fell in love with immediately. so what if Levi’s exposed it to me. I wear Levi’s everyday and would rather them show me how to appreciate my youth and “Go forth.” and do something and anyone else. when I do get up and “Go forth.” to do something I’ll be wearing my Levi’s already.
The commercial is directed/created by Ryan McGinley. And I agree with those asking the assclowns to stop the whinning for credit to Walt Whitman. Be proud this revived his work.
“Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?”
Kudos to the ventriloquisms performed in this commercial. Whitman never seemed to hesitate to speak for others. I love his arrogant bravado in such a omnivorous and multi-vocal project as Leaves of Grass. Whitman pulled no punches as an entrepreneur–nor should McGinley, or Levi’s. How is this commercial any different from a public performance. The poem is in the public domain and it belongs to us all. We perform it to ourselves; teachers and students perform it to each other; Levi’s, McGinley, and the many people behind the production have performed it across mass media to the world. Let’s find out who did such a wonderful reading and drop the outdated Marxism-Capital debate.
And yes. Those are two men embracing at 0:29. Look up McGinley’s work. You’ll immediately see the link.
I thought the narrator sounded like
William S. Burroughs… now i’ll be up googling until I know
I did too! I’m in the middle of google-ing the heck out of this commercial because I swore to my husband the voice was Burroughs!
Does anyone know where i can download this commercial as audio??? Please help…
The voice sounds like Burgess Meredith. He made a lot of recordings of poetry, but did he do Pioneers! O Pioneers!?
I wouldn’t worry about this using poetry to sell jeans. I doubt there will be much jean buying because of this.
It almost sounded like a Kennedy to me but it wasn’t
The first time I experienced this Levi comm. it grabbed me…A: because I am disappointed in Levi and the whole jeans bastardization…I miss unwashed jeans>boot cut or flare or straight B: the words were timely..and thanks to the “Googlely World ” I found 6,300000 results and thats cool and important to our next ***-age and how many of you all know OBAMA is trying to control the web FREEDOM>>along w/guns FREEDOM… wake up, he says he be a black pres. but he is 1/2 black, how did he/we choose which race he is ? WHO IS HE REALLY>>>the full writing and many more, then found that much of his and other great lit’s are done by tech stuff and can be listened to on You-tube because of some guy that brought the readings to life…AND as far as this “O Pioneer” I felt it was about now and whats coming that the world is going to need to deal with. Looking to us/U.S. for the lead as we are the newest civilization and rebels for freedom on the block since we shook off the Kings horses and all the kings men. The words of great writings as these are like a painting >>>it may have a different meaning to you…that is arts…ain’t they great…peace love and harmony…lol…PEACEOUT or I mean in I am out/back quiet~~~WAit, one more thing America…something is coming and the whole world[gov'ts] is and has been digging and setting up bunkers in mountains and undergroundFACT…pay attention, read Walt and think then act…end
cough cough ……NERD!!!!!!
Hay, Spyeread, have the G-men put the microchips in your brain yet? You will know when you start hearing voices. Are they already talking to you? You know Big Brother has you on his radar. Go to one of your bunkers and practice your writing, improvement is definitely needed there. Anyone can write. There are two types of writers: those who earn a living publishing their work, and those who call themselves writers but wait tables to scrape by. As the former, I can tell you are the latter.
The poem is not read by Whitman. The artist identified on the Smithsonian album is the University Players. According to one source, the poem is read by actor Will Geer.
See http://allplaidout.com/?p=2616
I too was led to google ‘Pioneers Oh Pioneers’ and discover that it was in fact a Whitman poem.
I don’t really view this as commercialization of Art, the commercial seems to draw a connection between the Levi brand, which came out of Pioneers heading west heading the call of Manifest Destiny. It seems there’s a good case to be made that over the years Levi’s have been the chosen fashion for Pioneers, from the Gold Rush miner 49-ers, beat poets like jack kerouac, 50′s rebels like James Dean & Elivs to today’s urban hipsters on fixies. Like it or not, Levi’s have been a key piece of identity for American Pioneers.
This is the second set of ads I’ve seen that shift from a ‘our brand is awesome’ message to a ‘you’re awesome, we help you be awesome’ message. The other set of ads are the Quaker Oats ‘Go Humans’ ads.
Congrats! You learned something new while watching a commercial! Lets berate the lit guy some more for having an opinion!
Sam, you’re a jackass.
I’m sure the poem would be just as good without the commercial. But I’m happy that your lives weren’t totally wasted in front of the TV.
I’m crushed. You mean Walt Witman, who died in 1892 wasn’t recorded doing his own poems?
One of the first recordings on wax spool: Walt Whitman performing “America” http://www.whitmanarchive.org/multimedia/index.html.
I thought the narration was an old recording of Burgess Meredith as well.
What a lame commercial. I am seldom bothered by commercials but this one sucks hard.
Of course, we want to echo sentiments that originally glorified the methodical, merciless extermination of the “inferior race” of native Americans as the “superior” race took their place on the continent. People should know “art” before they decide to copy it, but that would require caring about knowledge.
People keep talking about stealing from Whitman, but I don’t see how you can steal anything from a 120 year old corpse.
can someone tell me where to download the reading of this poem not in a wma format
Go forth pioneers and painful lit snobs – quit crying and get useful – whose voice are we hearing in the recording??
Girl at :33 is stuck in my dreams. I want to Go Forth and smooch her.
I am often disappointed when great lyrics and poem are sold out for commercial purposes. That being said, I have to agree that there are many who would never have given Whitman’s work a second thought if not for this commerical, so I am excited to see so much discussion about Whitman.
The recording of Walt Whitman’s voice that folks are referring to is the one used on the previous Levi’s commercial – “…perennial with the earth…”
You can find the link to the recording to the link here:
http://www.whitmanarchive.org/multimedia/index.html
I also found this wonderful poem by googling “Pioneers, oh Pioneers.” However, for some odd reason, the poem seems very familiar. I love this video and the poem, for that matter. Brilliant delivery on the audio. I loved it.
The voice sounds most like Burgess Merideth from about 50 years ago. There is nothing wrong with using a poem for a commerical.
This commercial sucks… hard. If you love interracial sex, riding a horse in an urban environment or running around a junk yard with your shirt off then you will love Levi Jeans.
why are any of those activities inherently bad (OK, maybe the asphalt is not so fun for the horse)?
I too had to google it and am enlightened, after watching the youtube a few times it seems obvious that it was mostly filmed in the Portland Oregon metro area.
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Led here by google, like others have mentioned. My 14 yr old daughter & I were completely creeped out by the Levis commercial, because it seemed like a call to arms – some type of revolution. . . we thought there was some subliminal type messaging going on in the guise of jeans commercial. I’ll have to look at the entire Whitman poem to understand what it means.
A few points.
The fact that Walt Whitman is not credited is no different than any other commercial that uses an uncredited song. Some webblogs have been established to track and credit those artists for those who are interested in more information, so it’s not as if the absence of Whitman’s name was intended to steal the credit.
I recently saw a documentary/news report (“Sewing A Legend” I think) about the history of Levi jeans. I cannot say that they were the inventor of jeans, but they were definitely the most significant player of jeans entering contemporary fashion back in the 1950s and 1960s and remain the oldest brand name. They explained their marketing amongst celebrity-heavy endorsements for competing brands was to emphasize their history as a “pioneer” in their industry. That seemed to me to be the theme of their choice of poem and their imagery.
My two cents.
For Josh: Levi was the inventor of the modern jean as we know it today (rivets at stress points, thick, durable, etc). He, along with Jacob Davis, pattented the design.
Here’s a link for Levi Strauss & Co.:
http://www.levistrauss.com/Downloads/History_Levi_Strauss_Biography.pdf
It’s part of a spoken word CD compilation of excerpts from Leaves of Grass, by Whitman and recited by “The University Players,” though it’s a bit difficult to pin down who exactly that is.
Not much info out there on them. It’s part of the Smithsonian collection, though. And more recently on iTunes.
It could be Vic Perrin the narrator from the original Outer Limits and a voice over genius.
You were mezmerized because you are a douche. This commercila is about as useful as tits on a bull. I bet you try to catch the spot that dances when someone holds the flashlight. People like you should not be allowed to voice opinion. Again, you are a douche.
Using a Walt Whitman poem for a commercial is not a sin against nature. It introduces millions of people to Whitman’s lyricism as a poet. What the hell is wrong with that? It’s like Auden in “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” It not only makes the poem outrageously popular and desirable. It makes people (read: young poeple) look it up and learn. Maybe they even memorize it. What a tragedy.
Commercials regularly use music w/o explicitly stating the source…as long as Levi’s paid whoever controls Whitman’s rights, I have no problem with it. And, how nice to hear something like this on TV… hey, they could have used a Taylor Swift tune.
This commercial was SO STUPID! So are the other ones that Levi’s is airing at the same time. They’ve got the Whitman poetry and on the other hand a bunch of shirtless idiots running around acting weird.
It’s so typical of this generation anyway, though. Like the blogger was saying, he was so ready to fight but had absolutely no clue as to what for. It speaks to a definite problem with the generation on the whole… except it’s a generation that has been evolving for 50 years — still amounting to a whole lot of bloated, inflated nothing.
I believe the voice is Burgess Meredith
levi is just trying to sell you jeans..that’s it. walt whitman is trying to get you to be a leader and not be gullible and buy jeans because somebody stole his poem.
Could it be John Cameron Swayze? (From the old Timex Commercials)
Who the hell glorifies children forced into military service on their blog? Shame on you. Take down the photo. It’s not cool, it’s not edgy, it’s evil. Check out invisiblechildren.com or projectak47.com and educate yourself.
The Invisible Children documentary and this comic (which i presume is what you are referring to) both bring the plight of child soldiers to an otherwise naive audience in a real and powerful way. Same message, same story, same motivation – different medium.
I think commercial to be very annoying. the peom is good but what the heck does it have to do with jeans.
I’m always searching for brandnew blogposts in the internet about this theme. Thanks!!
Does anyone else think it might be Martin Sheen?
Pioneers! O Pioneers! By Walt Whitman Vocals By Will Greer
If the Levi brand and the fact that the video+poem were used for a commercial were taken out of the context, I wonder if viewers would react differently to the video?
I was curious as to who was the narrator as well but have to disagree with everyone on this post. To me he sounds like John Cameron Swayze who use to narrate the Timex commercials in the 50s and 60s
SHUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP DUMA************************
c yall r too lame to even leave a reply on my comment u losers lamossss
I cannot believe Walt Whitman sold out like this. The man has no scruples.
I love this commercial. Despite its not being entirely accurate to the original poem, I also would never have never googled the poem otherwise. After looking at the companies page, I think that the purpose is to inspire younger adults to make the changes in the world that they want to see. Maybe to start a revolution. Then they introduce their brand as the jeans explorers and revolutionaries wear… back to the hard-working pioneers and the way the company started. It’s a great marketing plan, and even if I don’t buy their jeans, I still feel inspired to do something. If only the young adults of America really were united.
If not for this Levis commercial, I never would have Googled this poem. I’m sure many others could say the same. I was drawn more to the voice and words, than the people themselves. I think it was innovative and a cool commercial. Props to Levis.
As an artist myself, I think it’s safe to say that artists DO make art to be seen and heard, and in fact is the only reason to make art, and honestly, I think Walt Whitman himself would love this commercial.
The great thing this commercial did was introduce the poem and walt whitman to the youth. Kids see this commercial, think it sounds cool and they go to their computer and google it, and hopefully get a good serving of literature.
This commercial was based on a series of photographs done by Ryan McGinley called “the Kids are Alright.” McGinley directed the “Go Forth” campaign, edited out virtually all of the nudity and debauchery contained in his earlier photographs, but, i think, tried to keep the same energy and artistic idea intact.
His photos depicted a more counterculture youth, naively experiencing.. playing, loving, and being, uncensored, and usually nude.
To be a pioneer is to be the first… or to do something first.
Go Forth, do something you’ve never done before.
This is a beautiful peice of art.
I don’t care that it’s a commercial, or about any of the b.s. that Levi’s is ripping off literature/art to sell a product. I don’t care what the capitalist motive was behind this ad, it’s still an amazing clip. Perfect videography and poem; they fit together so well. Kudos to whoever came up with this and produced it. I want to see more stuff like this on t.v. and less sexual marketing.
And a note to those who think Levi’s did an injustice to Walt Whitman: Many people of my generation (I’m 19) would never have heard that poem without this commercial, and i think that Levi’s used it in a very classy and fitting way, as jeans are a huge part of western culture.
the poem is for those that developed the American wilderness, that strove to make what we have today. I cringe to see Levi’s benfiting from this poem of American progress and actions — not only for crass commercialism but becasue Levis took all their plants outside of the US — they glorify American youth but want to sell them foreign made jeans and dockers!! Hypocracy, your name is advertising!
I don’t necessarily care about levi’s or the commercial except for the poem which I absolutely fell in love with. I looked up the poem after having seen the commrcial and found out it was by Walt Whitman. I don’t know about commercialism and I’m not a lit major but in my humble opinion in today’s society anything that gets people to use their brains and strikes a chord deeper than the mindlessness that now is the norm I say bravo to the instrument that struck that chord. Of course its a commercial just to sell jeans but if your a thinking person you can see past that and simply love the beauty of the words being recited from such an excellent work.
All I know is if it wasn’t for a stupid jeans commercial showing all kinds of beautiful people taking their clothes off, I would never have ever –– EVER –– been exposed to this beautiful poem by Walt Whitman.
Oh, yeah, btw, I’m probably the oldest person posting on this blog. I’m looking for the sound file…
Considering the level of ignorance this country is reaching for every time some a**hole on FOX NEWS says something stupid, I find this re-birth of Whitman’s art a promising development.
Tony, I will be 51 in march 2010.
Are you older than me?
Anyway, like everybody else I Googled “Pioneers oh Pioneers” and found out who wrote it.
I work in advertising and this is a Brand ad.
Its purpose is to create brand awareness, and judging by the results on this site…it is successful.
The poem is definitely read by john Cameron Swayze…. The voice of the timex commercials of my youth.
For those people who have any sort of higher education at all, if you did not recognize this piece by Whitman, either you skipped American Lit. or you need to demand your tuition money back! Leaves of Grass was one of the most widely read pieces in our history, for heaven’s sake!
As a non-American, I found this to be a very American-centric “call to arms” type commercial and found it a bit odd that they were showing it in a cinema outside the US. Can’t relate to it at all. I heard the same reaction from a number of people.
As a child I remember scratchy recordings of Sandburg, “fences” or “path less traveled”, Levis’ spot has this feel but Whitman content, and not good Whitman content.Pioneers? Land hungry colonialists? Bring your weapons, gawd not again. The whole effort presents psudeo cultural content with no real meaning ( that I can discern) what-so-ever. Offensive in its cynicism.
When I first saw this commercial, I felt inspired. Inspired to fight. Not sure what to fight, but just to be free. Then, I posted the poem on Facebook and got immediate response of my friends saying “Omg, I love that commercial!” and “That is a cool poem ‘Levi’ wrote”. But I googled it to see if they really wrote it. Turns out it was Walt, and there was a lot more to it that the 4 lines in the commercial. This is now my favorite poem and I’m am inspired. For life.
It seems that most people have forgotten that Levi’s is a brand. This commercial is not meant to sell jeans, it’s meant to sell a lifestyle. A lifestyle to people who would be inspired by this commercial.
I believe that by using this poem they are also looking to get a response from snooty lit majors that sit on their computers and write about the commercialization of art..blah..blah..blah. The more you discuss it, the more Levi’s will profit from it. It’s a beautiful poem, and a great commercial, whether you decide to buy into it is all up to you.
so take walt’s advice…..go forth…why waste time sitting here to read what other people think? go into the world and make it better…and get off the computer.