Levis 501’s: From ‘Dad’s Jeans’ to International Fashion Statement.

Levis jeans were introduced in the 1970's where young people all over the world wore them. They were 'an international uniform. ' But about 12 years later everything changed because Levis were becoming old and were often called 'my dad's jeans': sales started dropping because no young people wanted to wear them. This is when the 501's came in for any 15-20 year old that wanted to look good. At the end of the year 1985 Levis started advertising their new 501's eg.

The launderette and the bath adverts. In 1986 they started shooting adverts for usage in 1987 and black 501's were introduced: also a pair of jeans specially cut and designed for women. This advertising campaign was necessary because no-one was buying Levis so they were going out of business: bringing in this advertising with the launderette advert was a good way to sell them because a young man is shown wearing the jeans and this will attract other young people to wear Levis 501's.

Compare the 2 Levis 501's adverts that you saw, the one set in the launderette and the Russian one. The stories of the 2 adverts are very different: the Russian advert is very serious and tense whereas the one in the launderette is more relaxing and fun. The storyline of the Russian advert keeps you in suspense: it is all about freedom; and how the people of Russia were restricted.

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It is set in a train station where a Russian man has just come back from America: while going through customs his bag is checked and in it he has a James Dean magazine and photos, he also has a pair of jeans wrapped up but the customs officer checking the bag is distracted by the army walking through and forgets about the wrapped up package, when the man gets home he is relieved, then the jeans are shown the slogan reads: There's blue jeans And there's Levis.

In the advert there is no dialogue only signs like the man at customs saluting the army but we can always tell what is happening with the music volume and people's facial expressions: the advert is effective without the dialogue. The story of the Launderette advert is very simple. It is about a man going to the laundry to wash the clothes he has got on. It is a very fun, bubbly advert to watch (most women would like it because of the man! ). The advert shows the man putting stones in the washing machine showing us that they are stoned wash jeans. It is an advert that hasn't got a lot of seriousness in it compared to the Russain one.

The Russian on has more of a stronger message to get across. I think it is more of a casual advert that doesn't make people think it just advertises the jeans whereas the Russian one gets people to stop and think. This advert also doesn't have any dialogue: it has the song 'Heard it through the Grapevine' which is very effective for the advert because it makes it feel fun and summery and also suggests that the laundry is a place for gossip, but in this advert there are no clues telling us how people are feeling but you can just see peoples facial expressions and what mood they are in.

The setting of the Russian advert is set in a train station in Russia. It is a very bleak, dark station and is very empty looking. There are not a lot of people in the station and everyone in the station is very serious looking. People in the station don't look very friendly. There is a big picture of the Russian Leader Lenin who was the mover behind the revolution; this is showing us that he was a very important figure to the Russian people.

When the man leaves the station everything outside is bleak, dark and deserted; the streets look dirty and when the man is walking around it seems like everything is staring at him: this is showing us the lack of freedom in Russia at the time, we as the audience think that he is smuggling in drugs or something so even the setting keeps us in suspense and it is also very tense. When the man gets to his house some of the audience would be expecting a warm cosy house but again his room is dull; doesn't look comfortable, it looks plain and derelict which is really showing us that there is fear in the country and people are scared to be happy.

The weather outside is cold, dark and it is snowing telling us that this advert was shot in winter, and shows us the coldness of the country. The whole advert is shot in black and white so I think that the bleakness is made to look better and effective: I think that this also shows the restrictions because it could be trying to show how the Russians lives weren't very colourful they weren't allowed to do what they wanted so their lives were very 'Black and White. ' In the advert a lot of shadow is used to make it creepy like when the man is walking on the road his figure is black like a silhouette so the man is also a very shadowy figure.

I think this location was chosen for the advert because it is a very deserted place and the outside looks very rundown, I think the train station was chosen because it is a public place and it shows us that the man has come back from holiday. The Launderette is setting shows a lot of ordinary simple looking people: set in the late 1950's we have evidence from the advert because of the way the people are dressed and there is a Chevy parked outside of the laundry. The laundry is a small place that is very bright and happy.

Everyone in the laundry all have different personalities and most of them look happy with his or her lifestyle apart from an old man who was grumpy, I think this was because he was much older then everyone else and he could have been jealous of the main man. The weather outside is hot and sunny: we know this because the man comes in wearing sunglasses and the laundry is really bright. The advert is set in place where everyone knows everyone else so it is a place where everyone is always gossiping.

It is a very cheery place where everyone is jolly; the song used in the background represents freedom because the singer Marvin Gaye also believed in freedom so it is very effective for the advert. The Levis men in the adverts are very different both with the way they act and the way they look. The man in the Russian advert is very suspicious looking and is dressed very shabby and not very presentable. He looks very nervous and guilty. He looks suspicious because the audience never really see his face it is always hidden and we can only always see his eyes that are always wandering around so he is never looking in one place.

The character is a shadowy figure because he is seen wearing a long black coat, which is very mysterious looking so when he is walking outside he looks like a shadow. You tell this man has an absence of warmth, comfort, privacy and pleasure so I think buying the jeans and wearing them brings all this to him. The man always feels like he is being watched by someone he had no privacy so he knew the only place he was safe in was his own house. On the other hand the Levis man in the launderette is cool, calm and relaxed.

He walks in the launderette like he owns the place because he is confident within himself he knows that when he walks in their all attention will be focused on him. I think he is feeling this confident because he is wearing his Levis jeans. We can tell this man is from the late 1950's because he has a teddyboyish look and his hair is done in an Elvis style. He comes into the laundry with a pair of glasses on and everyone stares at him. There isn't as much mystery in this man as there is in the Russian man-but his confident look makes him look mysterious because we don't know what is about to happen.

This Levis man is very differently dressed in the advert: he is wearing a pair of Levis and a plain white t-shirt, he is holding a leather jacket so he is casual but simple looking. This character I think creates sex appeal because he is very young looking and in the late 1950's would have looked very modern. Also because of the way he is dressed and then later takes all his clothes of I think this would probably attract a lot of girls to him.

In the Russian advert there aren't a lot of other people there is only the army and the man at customs. The army coming through the train station adds tension to the advert but respect is shown to the army when they come because the man at customs salutes to him but the Levis man looks at them in a very scared and nervous way. The military people/army are very fierce looking and they watch everything that is going on. Everyone is scared of the army and when the man at customs salutes at them they walk off he has a sighs with relief.

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