My Most Immortal Ad: Susan Credle on Levi Strauss & Co's 'Swimmer'
With this year's Immortal Awards deadline nearly upon us, this year's global jury has been taking it in turns to select the ads and campaigns that have stood the test of the time in their mind, revealing the reasons why they've stayed with them as their most immortal ad.
Susan Credle, global chair and global chief creative officer of FCB, heads back to the early '90s for an ad that spawned culture and art as much as it helped shift denim...
The deadline for this year's Immortal Awards is Thursday 7th September. More information on how to enter can be found at the bottom of the article.
My Immortal Award would go to BBH London’s 1992 film inspired by the short story by John Cheever, “The Swimmer,” for Levi’s directed by Tarsem with Dinah Washington’s 1961 Quincy Jones recording of Noël Coward’s “Mad About the Boy.” That should be enough, right there. Dream big, dream mad, dream crazy — especially when you are doing a product demo (“The more you wash them the better they get”).
But the real genius of this Immortal piece of work is that it inspired Creek, a nod-to-Ansel-Adams film directed by Vaughan Arnell, music by Stiltskin (“Shrink to Fit”), Drugstore directed by Michel Gondry, music by Biosphere (“Watch pocket created in 1873”) and Flat Eric directed by Quentin Dupieux aka Mr. Oizo (“Sta-Prest”).
These films held two truths. They were no doubt ads for a brand. They are also enduring art pieces celebrated by the public. They became a part of culture. They were inspired by art, and they introduced that art to a bigger audience through advertising.
It is what we can do on our best day in this industry. And we should aim for more of those best days.
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The Immortal Awards entry system is now open and entries will be accepted until September 7th 2023.
All entries must be made for a commissioning client, and must have first aired, broadcast, displayed, launched or published between September 1st 2022 and August 31st 2023.
Every member of LBB is entitled to up to five entries as part of their membership. To enter, visit the submissions portal here. The full list of rules, including eligibility dates, can be found here.
If you are a Little Black Book member that wishes to enter but may not be able to make the deadline, please contact paulm@lbbonline and emma@lbbonline.com to discuss extension options.
If you’d like to enter the Immortal Awards but you’re not yet a member of LBB, sign up here today.
Thanks to our wonderful Immortal Awards partners
