Jeans That Lift Your Butt, and Your Spirits Too

Ever since the downturn began, it seems I can't turn on NPR or open up a newspaper without being bombarded with talk of the recession. Even in stories that should be completely unrelated to the economy, there it is in flashing lights: We're all in for it! Everyone's losing their jobs! Their homes! Despair! Despair!

Lagging just behind the news reports, the doom and gloom has seeped into the commercial breaks as well. Almost every ad, be it on television, in a magazine, or on a billboard, somehow references the recession, as if we needed to be reminded that we are all broke and need to save where we can. What happened to television as escapism?

While they mainly offer a gentle reminder, some ads have taken it to the next level by declaring transcendence of your money woes if you simply buy their product. In the latest Ad Report Card, a Slate Magazine column on the relationship between ads and consumers, Slate contributor Seth Stevenson breaks down the meaning behind the new Levi's ad campaign.

The "Go Forth" commercials feature readings of Walt Whitman's poetry espousing the courage and valor of the American spirit. Shots of average, and of course beautiful, people riding public transportation and frolicking beneath waterfalls, protesting greedy CEOs and circling bonfires on the beach, embody what we think we are, or wish we were. At least if you're liberal and under 35, Levi's' target audience. There is footage of interracial and homosexual couples, after all.

These ads, as well as many others, reflect a shift in the American mindset, and advertisers' need to appeal to the new American consumer. While there are still plenty of flashy, silly ads, it seems advertisers are learning that we're tired, and we want someone to understand that, and give us hope for the future. If they can sell us on the promise of a brighter tomorrow, maybe they can sell us a pair of jeans, too.