Wieden drops stunning visuals and an empty message

It's hard to imagine a advertisement that can inspire conflicting emotions quite like this offering from Wieden + Kennedy as part of the Levi's go forth campaign.

On one hand, the ad is absolutely stunning to look at and listen to. The clothes look great and one might even be able to find a small shred of inspiration from the young male voice whispering sweet nothings about pioneers in the rust belt. This is America. The home of- pioneers, coal miners, big ten football and, of course, Levi's. Any second now, American craftsmanship (manufacturing) will be back!

On the other hand, the ad is kind of vague. Welcome back to Braddock, PA? So what is Levi's doing for Braddock, PA besides getting some kids to plant a garden? Maybe these sweet nothings really are just sweet nothings. The kind that undergrad girls may fall prey to at their freshman orientation. Hmmm, I think I'll take a bath now.

The Levi's website states that the company is supporting a community center and a community garden. Awesome!! A huge clothing empire wants to help but sending some charity to Pennsylvania. That is not really the ideal method of corporate responsibility and Ed Freeman would agree with me.

Here's another idea, labor in the U.S. is expensive but people still like to pay a lot of money for denim. Don't pay Wieden any more money. The Levi's brand is already strong enough. Send over some shuttle looms to Pennsylvania (if you still have any or buy them back from the Japan) then put out a line of high end dry denim. The product would hit a demographic that is not currently wearing Levi's and it would be willing to shell out $300 bucks a pop. This is not exactly gear for working people in Braddock, PA but these are rust belt folks. They want jobs not charity.