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6| Kevin the hamster

In 1998, Levi’s ran a televised commercial, which didn’t feature any jeans and didn’t have any people.

(Source: Youtube)

In the first weekend on air, the commercial received 200 complaints and soon reached over 500, eventually causing the ad to be pulled. Most complaints were coming from parents of upset children, while some rightly questioned the relevance of the ad to the product. From simply watching this commercial it is difficult to understand what Levi’s was really trying to achieve. A pet hamster named Kevin is running on his treadmill, one day the treadmill breaks and Kevin becomes bored. The voiceover says “Kevin grew bored....and died” as the dead hamster is pushed over with a pencil.

The ad clearly didn’t inform its viewers about anything, it certainly reminded them of the brand but hardly about it’s product, and it definitely didn’t persuade more people to go out and buy their jeans. So what was its purpose?

Levi’s marketing director said the aim of the ad was to “set up a bizarre or surreal situation, making the viewer look twice and think about what they see”. It certainly made me watch it more than twice. And I still question what the purpose of that was. If their purpose was to raise brand awareness by shocking or confusing its viewers, then, despite being banned shortly after release, it might have succeeded in generating negative publicity. However, Levi’s denied that that was their intention and said the aim was to “entertain the viewers.” The ad was a part of Levi’s new concept - “expect the unexpected” and intended to portray how boring it is to be unoriginal. The ad probably intended to say - "wear Levi’s, be original", a message that got lost in execution.

Generally, I’m a fan of simple, effective advertising, however marketing communication is only effective when it adequately achieves a purpose.

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