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Denim Dive

Denim Dive

Back-flipping into a pair of Levi’s on YouTube BrandWatch.

Posted Monday, December 29, 2008 - 12:08pm

Vote on how this video of jumps, back flips, and dives into men’s jeans affects Levi’s brand.

 

 

Name: Guys backflip into jeans
Stats: Levi's has scored one of the top viral YouTube videos of the year—and one of the most controversial. Marketing bloggers were quick to call it a "rip-off" of the Ray-Ban "Bobbing for Glasses" video from 2007. But this one-minute, 46-second video sure has its fans from the viewing community: nearly 4.78 million viewings, more than 19,000 text comments, and 120 video responses since first posted in May 2008. By the way: the Ray-Ban ad that allegedly inspired it? Just 285,000 views.
What you see: The video starts with a guy standing on the edge of his bed, holding his jeans in his hands. He bounces up and down, gets some air, and—woosh—he hops into his jeans. We see even more complicated entries to follow: standing on a buddy's shoulders, leaping off a first-floor balcony, hopping over a wooden fence, and finally a back flip. What you don't see is any obvious branding from Levi's. But you do see the tell-tale label above the back pocket a few times, and the vibe is unmistakably Levi's slacker-cool.
Takeout/Takeaway: There is a danger in producing viral ads. If it looks too corporate, it can do more damage than it's worth, creating an echo chamber of boos and hisses from YouTube-aholics who can sniff out disingenuous ads from marketing pros.
Social Media Effect: For Levi's, the "Is it real?" debate never really materialized with this video. Why? It's so well-beloved by the YouTube community. As one viewer deadpans, "good for when you hear your girlfriends parents walking upstairs ... that's about it ..."

YouTube BrandWatch is The Big Money's exploration into how the world's best-known businesses, so adept at managing their images offline, are being perceived online, where control is harder to come by. Every week, The Big Money features a corporate-themed video that's had significant viewership on YouTube: some approved, some unapproved, some mashed-up combinations of the two. And we'll ask our readers to vote on how the video affects the brands. We think the responses will surprise you, and provide a window onto what is fast becoming the most important playground for corporate games. (Note: This feature has no official relationship to YouTube or its owner, Google.)

 

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  • Bernhard Warner is editorial director of Social Media Influence.
  • Matthew Yeomans runs Custom Communication
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