Wrangler “Stop Thinking”

Paris’ Fred & Farid won top honors in Cannes for its “We are animals” press campaign for Wrangler Europe, a provocative series that seeped the jeans brand in raw animalistic sexuality. A new Web film series takes an intellectual approach to the “We are animals” theme, asking consumers to “Stop thinking.” Well, not entirely, just long enough to consider Wrangler.  It’s actually about overthinking, that dizzying, creativity-squashing habit that can quickly kill even the most inspired idea. The black-and-white intro film takes a broad look at all that may not have been. Dramatic images of people in action are paired with a voiceover that explains, “If you think too much…” a cliff diver might think “this would be too high,” boxing might be “too violent” and fighting fires “too frightening,” and so on. After viewing all sorts of extreme and not-so-extreme scenarios, the clip ends with a nod to Wrangler’s classic Western heritage, a cowboy riding a bucking bull, another sport that would be deemed “too dangerous,” and the message, “Stop Thinking.” The premise is a bold way to sell jeans, perhaps too meditative for most but nonetheless more interesting thaa what we get here in the U.S., like ads  with Brett Favre looking sexy in his Wranglers. Nothing wrong with that — but it’s comfortable and expected. Everything this campaign is not. —Eleftheria Parpis