Levi’s Returns to Valencia Street With Some Graffiti of Its Own

First, Levi’s opened a shop on Valencia Street. The community had differences of opinion on this matter. One member of the community, a performance vandal named Elle, allegedly wrote some graffiti all over their storefront. And then somehow ended up in court on some kind of charges, and then did some (more) viral marketing work for Levi’s. And Levi’s closed their shop and left Valencia Street.

And now they’re back, pimping their Dockers brand via some ugly typography and a Facebook URL. Reader Sara S. reports:

i saw this illegal marketing on Valencia outside of Modern Times bookstore. I’m pretty sure the City Atty just sued Microsoft for doing the same thing (!).

and disguising it as some sort of anti-establishment political statement?! come-on. “If you wear our boring, kacki pants then you’re not just selling out at your corporate job, but rather, you’re making history?”  or maybe they’re trying to soothe those who are feeling hopeless by making them feel better about their unemployment? deep or not, it’s still criminal acts committed by a corporation in our neighborhood!

I don’t even know where to start. Is some marketing tool at Levi’s going to have to go to jail for this? Or at least court, like Elle? Or maybe Elle is in on it?

In any case, it’s even uglier than Microsoft’s ugly stencil.

34 Responses to “Levi’s Returns to Valencia Street With Some Graffiti of Its Own”

  1. Dockers are so goddamn ugly. This is appalling.

  2. BK says:

    I’m pretty sure no ones ever made history wearing a pair of Dockers

  3. Akbar Pansaki says:

    We will NOT tolerate this kind of ILLEGAL behavior in our neighborhood!

    We will PROTEST this by doing only LEGAL things in the Mission:
    * Slather the sidewalks with DOG POOP
    * Slather the walls with GRAFFITI
    * PUBLICLY URINATE in the alleyway next to every bar
    * Bicycle WITHOUT LIGHTS, WITHOUT HELMETS, and WITHOUT STOPPING for red lights and stop signs
    * Play LOUD MUSIC from our cars at night
    * CONSUME LIQUOR in Dolores Park
    * SELL FOOD FROM CARTS without a license or permits
    * SELL DRUGS like pot, crack, and heroin right in front of the Mission police station
    * DO DRUGS like pot, crack, and heroin right in front of the Mission police station
    * SIT/LIE all over the place
    * CARRY WEAPONS at night
    * AGGRESSIVELY PANHANDLE on every corner
    * OCCUPY homes owned by others rent-free

    We will show this EVIL CORPORATION that only LEGAL activity is tolerated in the Mission. Thank you for your cooperation.

  4. BrownGlitter says:

    I just love my fucking new pair of Dockers. 4Realz.

  5. Wow, that’s a fancy way to handle a twitter URL in a comment.

  6. 12937789 says:

    fuuuuuuck thiiiss

  7. MrEricSir says:

    So um, did anyone file a report with 311?

  8. save SF says:

    Dockers is trying hard to make a comeback but i dont feel as if defacing its home city is a good way to do it.
    Levis just got picketed in front of its own stores here because they wont use labor that is union. they are behaving badly….very badly

  9. Jodi Cooper says:

    Between the sweatshops that makes the clothes and the terrible treatment of employees at the store…Levis/Dockers look like they should top Americas worst places to work…let a alone shop.

    Ulgy in and Ulgy out….maybe that is why the clothes are so embarrassingly lame!

    • Akbar Pansaki says:

      Since the entire tone of this post is about what’s legal or not, I didn’t realize that legally producing clothing, legally paying wages and taxes, and legally selling the products is suddenly “bad behavior”. Go ahead and fine them the $500 for the lame graffiti from their ad agency while you’re at it.

      They should send ALL their work to China, start a giant oil spill, accidentally kill a few workers, and give money to some politicians to attack global warming, while evading taxes — maybe that’ll reset expectations on what “very bad behavior” really is.

  10. ellen says:

    do you think a company like levis really would NOT get the proper city clearance they need to put these (biodegradable chalk) stencils around the city? You should take your issues up with the city. And if you are going to write a blog, you should learn how to spell.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      Ellen: Well, other large companies, such as Microsoft, have failed to do so. Why would we assume that Levi’s is different?

      And, for that matter, is there actually some sort of a permitting process for advertising on public sidewalks like that? If so, I hope that Levi’s is being charged for the privilege of being able to advertise to us that way. Lord knows the city needs the money.

  11. Mike says:

    Sara S. has a trust fund so she doesn’t need to “sell out”

  12. truth says:

    My favorite part of this is all the google levis ads we’re not be served on this page.

  13. Greg Warwick says:

    What’s so appalling is that Levis didn’t take any responsibility for this, but pushed 100% of the blame on their “vendor”. Don’t you think that their vendor got approval from at least a brand manager at Levis before they executed this program? I would have at least liked to see some culpability, ‘My bad’ or something of that nature.

  14. marco says:

    Jesus! The MissionMission denizens will lionize any hipster who’ll deface private property with a fat sharpie (wow, yay, BKF, Cancer Carl, etc. you go!), but a corporate tag on the sidewalk and everyone’s on their iphones stat to their supervisors, 311, and the police.

  15. SfmissionLuv says:

    Levis/dockers does A heck of a lot for the bay area as far as charity/philanthropy. Can u say the same?And I got a cool pair of dockers the other day. Seriously.

  16. not fake says:

    We find friends, obtain the information we want, come up with a purchase
    not fake goldman will be the heiress towards the fortune of new york property titan sol goldman.