Digital leads new Levi's effort

In May, Levi's began seeding for the official campaign launch with unbranded YouTube videos starring 501s. Last Thurs­day, Levis posted the third in a series of 10 called “Moon Walker.” The video, which has a homemade feel to make it seem less like a commercial, features a man who fills up his pants with helium and floats in the sky — unbuttoning his 501s to descend.

The videos, which were created by San Francisco-based digital agency Cutwater, feature young men interacting with the jeans. For example, in “Jeans Jump”, men test their ability to acrobatically put on a pair of jeans.

The first three viral videos have gener­ated more than five million views online. The additional videos will be launched throughout the summer.

The campaign was conceptualized by Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), Levi's agency of record in the US since 2001. Levi's has worked with BBH on a global level out­ side of the US for 26 years. While BBH led the campaign development, as well as the TV and print elements, additional components were developed by a variety of agency partners including videos by Cutwater, digital components by EVB and Avenue A/Razorfish and outdoor by Ave A/Razorfish.

Print ads will break in August, in issues of Maxim, Details, Rolling Stone, Paper and Sports Illustrated. These ads will include URLs for the microsites of these celebrity pages. A series of TV ads will begin in August as well, on networks including MTV2 and the Cartoon Network.

Outdoor components will also begin in August. 501-focused billboards touting the “Live unbuttoned” campaign will be installed in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.