New Jean Line Uses Gang Themes in Ads

A flood of flashy commercials will be aired during tonight’s Grammy Awards on CBS. But none are likely to prove more provocative than one for Soviet, a new line of denim jeans looking for attention.

The ad for California viewers features a gang member dressed in a red bandanna. He is suddenly surrounded by gang members dressed in blue bandannas. One guy in blue, speaking in Russian, says, “You don’t belong here.” The guy in red, also speaking Russian, responds, “None of us belong here.” The words “Work it out,” appear on the screen, followed by the Soviet jeans logo.

A similar ad, this one featuring African-American and Italian-American gang members who also speak Russian, will air in the New York market. “We’re not trying to glamorize gangs,” said Ed Backholm Jr., director of marketing for the Seattle-based U.S. distributor of the jeans, Seattle Pacific Industries. “They aren’t hugging and kissing each other at the end of the commercial. That wasn’t our intention. The ad is about conflict and realistic resolutions.”

At issue is something few advertisers have dealt with before: the Los Angeles gang problem. Anti-gang public service spots are one thing. But here an advertiser portrays gang incidents, albeit incidents that appear to be solved peaceably, all for the sake of selling jeans.

“Advertising always exploits issues of the day in order to be memorable,” said Carol Moog, a clinical psychologist and advertising consultant in Bala-Cynwyd, Pa. “The question is: Is it somehow hip to be a gang member because you’re portrayed on TV in this way?”

The agency that created the advertisements said that isn’t the intention at all. “Anything you put on film that involves gangs is controversial,” said Jim Walker, creative director at the Seattle office of McCann-Erickson Worldwide. “But this is not an attempt to glorify gangs. It raises the issue, what if gang members met and no one got hurt?”

Beyond that, the commercials are clear attempts to familiarize consumers with the Soviet label. The jeans, which are actually made in Hong Kong, have limited distribution and have only been sold in the United States since January. On a very modest ad budget, Soviet is trying to compete for consumer attention with the likes of Guess? and Levis. But unlike the competition, its commercials are political in nature.

The biggest problem with the commercials may be that they’re spoken in Russian, Moog said. “While the ads imply verbal negotiations are the best way to solve problems,” she said, “they communicate in a language most people watching them won’t understand.”

One gang expert doesn’t like the concept of the ads at all. “They’re just capitalizing off gangs to sell blue jeans,” said Alexander Poe, executive director of the youth services group, Right Way. “Of course, the Bloods won’t wear blue jeans at all--they’re blue.”

About a year ago, Marc Chiat filmed several anti-gang public service spots that featured gang members advising others not to join gangs. “I don’t think these ads will help or hinder the gang problem,” said Chiat, co-founder of Red Dog Films. “Yesterday some gang members died. Today, more will die. And tomorrow more will get killed. Maybe people should put their energy into solving the gang problem instead of debating if these ads are right or wrong.”