Launderette
Levi's 5011985
Launderette is a 1985 50-second television commercial for Levi's 501, created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London.
The line
Levi's 501. The original shrink-to-fit jeans.
Why it works
The ad that relaunched a fading product as the most desired object in Britain. In a 1950s American launderette, Nick Kamen calmly strips to his boxer shorts to wash his 501s while the room gawps — a product demonstration (stonewash, button fly, shrink-to-fit) disguised as a scandal, scored to Marvin Gaye. Airing from Boxing Day 1985, it drove 501 sales up a reported 800% until demand outstripped supply, made boxer shorts a mainstream fashion item almost overnight, and sent its soundtrack up the charts — establishing BBH's playbook of ads that launch hit records. It is studied for selling identity rather than denim, for the then-rare female gaze on a male body, and as the spot that made BBH's name. It placed sixth in the Channel 4/Sunday Times poll of the 100 greatest TV ads.
Techniques
- Demonstration A man strips to his boxers to wash his jeans in a launderette, a scandalous scene that quietly shows off shrink-to-fit denim.
- Jingles and music A Marvin Gaye soundtrack sets the mood and climbs the charts, starting a habit of ads that launch hit records.
- Pathos The gawping room and calm undressing make the jeans an object of desire, selling an identity rather than a pair of trousers.
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