In what for the first 15 seconds appears to be your every-day, run-of-the-mill skinny jeans ad, this new American Eagle commercial turns out to be something a bit more daring.
The ad, released on YouTube two days a go has been seen by about 300,000 peoplel so far. In the 30-second ad, young people can be seen doing and saying young people things — skateboarding, “if it’s your passion, it isn’t really work,” “I love the feeling you get when you make something all on your own,” “I don’t want to be put in a box,” etc.
Part way through the ad — after a tight shot of a guy skateboarding and a girl’s ass in front of a mirror — it becomes clear these jeans are, indeed, very skinny. In fact, they aren’t jean at all. They’re just painted on these lithe bodies to look like jeans when what we’re really looking at is people’s naked asses.
Humorously, the ad contains a link that takes the viewer to a page on the American Eagle website where one can purchase limited edition cans (his and hers!) of spray paint touted as “our skinniest skinny jeans ever.” Yes, spray on jeans.
However, you can’t actually purchase a pair of these limited edition “jeans.” When one attempts to make a purchase, a pop up informs the jeans are temporarily sold out and the visitor is asked to enter an email address.
While the whole spray on jean thing has been going for some time, American Eagle has added a nice touch creating the deftly tongue in cheek ad.
Of the effort, American Eagle VP of Branding Bob Holobinko said, “When we fail to push things further, we become safe and don’t cut through the industry. We don’t ever want to become safe or expected.”
