Does This Levi’s Ad Go Too Far?

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at whether this Levi’s ad that uses the word “ass” is a little too blunt.

A current slogan for Levi Strauss & Co.’s Levi Curve ID women’s jeans reads “All Asses Were Not Created Equal.” The slogan, which doesn’t bleep out the three-letter word for the behind, appears in store windows, on billboards and as part of a flashy magazine campaign. VF Corp.’s Lee Jeans brand has a television commercial in which Mike Rowe, host of “Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery Channel, refers to his hindquarters as “butt.” Gap Inc.’s Old Navy brand recently used the word “booty” in TV ads for a system to determine the best jeans for all sorts of behinds. The words “Booty Reader” show on the screen.

The brands say they’re merely reflecting the way their consumers speak today. “No woman turns around in the mirror, looks at herself and says, ‘My derrière is not as perky as it should be’,” said You Nguyen, Levi’s head of women’s merchandising and design.