Iconic Ads: Levi’s 501

When the British “Launderette” campaign broke in 1985, songs by Prince, Cindy Lauper, Madonna, Wham!, and Michael Jackson dominated the Billboard charts in the U.S. and Western Europe. According to The Pearl Source fashion blog, prevailing fashions featured “velour, spandex, and Lycra…Severely tailored military-style suits and jackets with padded shoulders …velvet tracksuits, and baggy harem pants or leggings…bright, glitzy and bold.” Levi’s classic American jeans were out of step with the popular look and sales were suffering, particularly in Europe. “Launderette” changed all that in the UK.

‘It was a piece of magic’: How Levi’s ‘Laundrette’ ad led to an 800% sales boost

Russell Parsons, Marketing Week, 15 May 2019: The Inside Story: The classic 1985 Levi’s ‘Laundrette’ ad by agency BBH is admired for its craft, but like most great marketing it was grounded in insight, and boosted sales of a struggling product in a moribund category.

Levi's Launderette Ad: how would today's marketers reimagine this classic ad campaign?

Justin Pearce, The Drum, 29 March 2016: The Reimagining Advertising campaign, created in partnership with GumGum, is asking a panel of ten marketers how they would reimagine seminal ads from the pre-digital age to find out how today’s leading advertising thinkers would reinvent them with the current digital tools at their disposal.