Check Out This Psychedelic Levi Jeans Commercial From 1971

At the risk of sounding like an old person on the porch shaking their fist at the kids running across the front lawn – I truly do believe something has been lost in regards to advertising. I personally feel we are missing some of the creativity and imagination that was on display back in the day – in particular with television commercials. Obviously I believe there are some exceptions to this rule with TV ads that we enjoy today – it’s just that I think you would be hard pressed to find something as exceptional as this 1971 psychedelic Levi jeans commercial these days. I had to watch this ad three times in a row, one of those reasons is I was enjoying the whole rotoscope animation aspect but by the end of it… I realized we had a cross between the Pied Piper and Something Wicked This Way Comes. And although it wouldn’t be released in theaters for another eleven years – I have to add that this psychedelic Levi jeans ad manages to slip in an element of John Carpenter’s The Thing as well!

While I am not 100% positive that this psychedelic Levi jeans commercial came out in 1971 – thanks to a little research online – it seems as if this might indeed be the year of release. In addition the narrator is Ken Nordine who passed away this year at the age of 98 and was well known for his word jazz albums as well as his voice over work – like for the now rarely seen Sesame Street animated short Seven Monsters. I believe this wonderful short was aired in the late ’70s and it was created in conjunction with none other than Maurice Sendak.

Another fun fact about Nordine is that he was the vocal coach for Linda Blair in 1973’s The Exorcist – which thanks to the Wikipedia I learned Ken ended up suing the Studio as he felt that he was not properly compensated for his efforts. This 1971 Levi jean commercial finds a stranger arriving in town, this person takes it all in stride when he sees the people are suffering from an extreme lack of style – a result that is making them real blue. Like a psychedelic Willy Wonka the stranger is quick to save these people before making his way to the next town. So prepare yourself to get hip and enjoy this psychedelic Levi jeans commercial from 1971 – one that apparently was featured in 1977’s Fantastic Animation Festival too!