Pioneers! O Pioneers!

Dr. Craig's post on Marxism has me thinking about various advertisements and the lack of critical thought exhibited by the general public.  In all of my thinking, one recent advertising campaign in particular came to mind.

Last year, Levi's jeans launched it's "Go Forth" advertising campaign.  The campaign was released with the hope of revitalizing sales, as the economic downturn had affected revenue.  The gist of the campaign is centered around the egalitarian sentiment that no matter what economic or ethnic background we are, the world is ours for the taking.  So essentially, put on Levi's jeans and realize your dreams are well within your grasp.  In addition to this rather vague egalitarian sentiment, there are a number of other ideals presented in the campaign.  The most interesting, and arguably infuriating, segment of the "Go Forth" campaign is a streaming commercial that was shown on television, accessible here..  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG8tqEUTlvs.

The commercial is played with the words from Walt Whitman's poem, "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" in the background.  It features the youth of America, referring to them as pioneers and calling on them - "go forth!" - to unite together in what can only be seen as some sort of revolutionary movement.  The beginning of the poem (which you can access here.. http://www.daypoems.net/poems/1969.html ), mentions the youth of America picking up weapons and preparing for battle, and eluding to there being no time to waste; action must be taken now.  Only a few seconds later is there mention of the rest of the world depending on an "us" - "all the rest on us depend."  In the video, "us" is presented as the youth of America, and indeed I think they are very much included, but the "us" that the rest of the world depends on is intended, here, to be the working class.

This may be more obvious if you have seen the rest of the ads in this campaign, which focus more on the working class of America. (I'm sure they showcase stuff like this on their website, for anyone who wants to take a peak)  In fact, Levi's has chosen a town in Pennsylvania that was hit particularly hard by the economic downturn as a site for a few of their "Go Forth" ads.  To show their "support" for the working class, Levi's has strategically placed billboards and other ads with "inspirational" slogans such as: "Ready to work," "Everybody's work is equally important," and my personal favorite "We are all workers."  Yeah, maybe they will substantially increase the pay of all the workers in their sweatshops, too.  Doubtful.  Levi's has successfully linked their brand of jeans with support for the working class.  I can't think of a better or more current example of the ruling class' exploitation of the working class for profit.  The recurring myth of the "American Dream" is more noticeable in these ads that are specific to the working class, though I do see some of this in the commercial as well.  The ruling class's implantation of the American Dream is just another way to exploit the working class, convincing them that if they only work hard, success will be theirs.  While the working class is hard at work struggling to reach the "American Dream," the ruling class is reeking the profits of their work.   

But, back to the commercial.  The irony here is that Walt Whitman's poem, at the time it was written, was about Manifest Destiny, the expansion of America, and the actual physical taking of land that was not ours to begin with.  But here in this ad campaign, it is presented as spurring a revolutionary movement.  The uniting of the youth of America, a rising up in battle, no time to waste...sound familiar?  It may be a leap, but I think that Levi's is presenting this poem about Manifest Destiny as a vehicle to associate their own brand of jeans with communist and revolutionary ideals.  One of the viewers of this particular showing of the ad on Youtube says, "I always get this feeling of wanting to do something great and revolutionary when i watch this, a rare triumph for modern advertising."  This commenter was not alone in that feeling.  Many of the other hundreds of comments said the very same thing. 

I think this differs slightly from Dr. Craig's example of the Communist Manifesto on display with hip, new jeans in the clothing store.  In Dr. Craig's example, ideas of revolution and radical change are appropriated by the ruling class to mystify and alter the perception of Marxist ideology so that it may work in favor of capitalism and in turn reproduce dominant ideology.  The example I'm proposing is a little more complex.  Although I do believe that the ruling class is appropriating revolutionary ideas in a way that makes the consumer associate buying Levi's jeans with taking part in this youthful/working class revolution, I think it is complicated by the fact that Whitman's poem was originally about Manifest Destiny, an ideal that was part of the dominant ideology.  It may be that the ruling class is trying to also mystify Manifest Destiny, possibly due to the brutal history of Americans viciously taking land that was not ours to begin with (a fact that is very often left out of poems such as Walt Whitman's), in order for "cool" ideas like Communism to be associated with these words.  Or maybe, and by the look of the comments under this video it very well could be the case, they were banking on the youth of America not realizing who the words in the background belonged to, let alone what they stood for. 

Regardless, in this example the ruling class has spun one or more narratives in a way that prevents the working class from realizing that they are being subjugated and brainwashed.  Yes, buy our jeans so that you may take part in this Marxist revolution, in which the youth and the working class will unite and rise up together.  No, by our jeans so that we can continue to make a profit through exploiting you, and in the process appropriate different oppositional ideas as a way to reproduce dominant ideology.  What a nice byproduct.