Comments on: The Most Offensive Commercial Ever Produced

By: America and Pioneers! O Pioneers! by Walt Whitman, brought to you by Levi’s | Moving Poems

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:33:32 +0000

[...] contrast, Stephen C. Webster at True/Slant called the “America” spot “The Most Offensive Commercial Ever Produced.” In 2004, Levi Strauss & Co. shut down its last factories in America. This strong, [...]

By: utzie

utzie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:30:35 +0000

Wow, this is quite a well written article. But, I have to ask: do people still make their own clothes like my grandparents did for their children? do people even know how to stitch up a hole in a piece of clothing anymore?

By: Advertising America « Open Admissions

Advertising America « Open Admissions — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:58:47 +0000

[...] Some people have written smart things about the ad: Check out Edwin Torres at the Poetry Foundation. Stephen C. Webster contrasts the idealism of the ad with Levi Strauss’s abusive labor practice…. [...]

By: Scholars and Rogues » Artvertising

Scholars and Rogues » Artvertising — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:38:29 +0000

[...] greeted the use of The Beatles’ work to sell sneakers two decades ago and that greets the use of Walt Whitman’s poetry to sell jeans today must give us hope that we are about more than [...]

By: diahni

diahni — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:38:02 +0000

Diebenow: Yeah, and jeans are the least of it. Capitalism, at least how it really functions, keeps the wealth in the pockets of a precious few. Doesn’t have to be that way. I’m so miffed at how all the bailed out banks are making out like bandits. Not like bandits, they ARE bandits. Any solutions? From where I sit, the problem is that banks and corporations have more “human rights” that we humans. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

By: diahni

diahni — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:31:41 +0000

Patriot: I know what you mean – I cringe when I see that virtually anything for sale is made in China. There’s something just wrong about jeans made outside the US. Jeans? And I just heard on the radio that Vizio, who makes flat screen TVs, is selling theirs for half the price. I don’t have to tell you why they can do this. As I mentioned, my solution to the subject at hand – ridiculously expensive Levis – is I never buy new pants, opting for the Goodwill Store and Salvation Army stores. But this isn’t helping US companies.
If any one nationality knows the power of its citizens, it’s us, or should I say US. So, what are we gonna do besides buy American made stuff? The country is so divided, even more so than during the Vietnam era. Do you think there are other strategies besides lobbying our senators? The distribution of wealth has never been more skewed, with the top one percent owning more than the rest of us. What are we going to do? Not a rhetorical question!

By: Claudia Deutsch

Claudia Deutsch — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:44:24 +0000

more than welcome. (and I checked all five — okay, okay, I’m a conspicuous consumer! — pairs of jeans in my closet. none of them are Levy’s. Yay!

By: Stephen C. Webster

Stephen C. Webster — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:35:16 +0000

Thank you, Claudia!

By: Corporate Babysitter » Blog Archive » On American Girl, Levi’s, Walt Whitman, Target, and the Scholastic Corporation

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:23:02 +0000

[...] now, to True/Slant to read Stephen C. Webster’s The Most Offensive Commercial Ever Produced. A beautiful dissection of a current Levi’s commerial in which Walt Whitman and his words [...]

By: patriot

patriot — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:35:39 +0000

Every stitch of clothing I own is made in the USA. There still are American companies out there. If you don’t know where to look, ask the all-knowing google, madeinusa.com, madeinusa.org, etc.

All American Clothing Company, formerly known as Union Jean Co., is an excellent example. http://www.allamericanclothing.com/

Just went on the website, and I saw jeans for $31.50-$34.50.