Levi's has a brand new and pretty unique ad campaign ("Go Forth") featuring the poems of Walt Whitman. One commercial features an actor reading Whitman's "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" but another includes what's thought to be the only existing recording of Walt Whitman's voice. Here's the ad with Whitman's reading of four lines from "America"
I suspect Walt Whitman wouldn't be thrilled about his work being used to hawk jeans, but I'm drawn to these ads nonetheless. I suppose any time we're offered the opportunity to hear Whitman's words, we all gain a wee bit. How can that be a bad thing?
I agree for the most part with what you said, but at the same time there is something terribly wrong with Whitmans words being used in this commercial. Whitman was very much about pride in the country and the idea of his words in "America" being used for a company that is outsourcing their factories for this new line of clothes overseas and selling them for over $100 goes against many of Whitman's ideas.
Posted by: Alexa Acord | January 24, 2010 at 02:14 PM