Angelina Jolie's Louis Vuitton ad: a commentary

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A concept that coincides with environmental sustainability is the sustainability of culture. It seems that globalization, while wreaking havoc on the environment is also homogenizing the multifaceted nature of human existence. So by virtue of disrespecting the environment, we are disrespecting and denying the preservation of a cultural heritage. The commercial I chose to analyze is a part of the Louis Vuitton 2012 campaign, dubbed ‘core values.’ This campaign seeks to capitalize humanitarian or ‘dream-fulfilling’ celebrities to equate their products as the moral good. The specific campaign that has caught my eye in the magazines and after watching this long interview was with Angelina Jolie. In the ad, Ms. Jolie talks about her life-changing journey to Cambodia—how much she connected with the spirituality of the place, the compassionate culture, the resilience after times of strife. She delves into some esoteric moral ground, describing her learned life-experiences in this unique country. She touches on the basic, humble values of the locals—their idyllic lifestyle. This is illustrated through a series of ‘portraits’ of the people of Cambodia—very rural, poor, within natural settings, engaging in mundane tasks, yet they are all smiling and happy.

With incorporating the idea that this brand can facilitate life-changing experience by virtue of engaging with the ‘glocal’ community, LV seeks to promote the sustainability of moral and experiential development through the consumption of their brand. There is this feel that if you use this product while on your journey, you will find that lost sense of community, that rural, slowed down life which is idyllic for any consumer in a fast paced market. LV is promoting its product as timeless—by setting their ad in a place that seems ‘untouched’ by the forces of globalization, LV is trying to redefine their mega-brand for the consumer as a supporter of glocal experience. This ad also idealizes nature with the location, choice of dress and makeup for Angelina Jolie and with the ethereal nature sounds in the background. They are trying to reverse the idea of this LV logo as one with nature, as opposed to a high-status symbol, but something that perhaps even the local Cambodians featured could attain if they simply ‘engage in their journey.’

Although this ad is aimed at Anglophonic consumers, I think it brings an interesting perspective of how mega-corporations are trying to include the marginalized into their advertizing to feign concern for rampant global inequality. Personally, I find the whole ad very hypocritical—I at no point understand how the connection is drawn between a ‘life-changing journey,’ facilitated through cultural exchange and witnessing of impoverished strife, and the bags Louis Vuitton is trying to sell. The whole ad seems completely disconnected with the product, yet all those profound sentiments expressed through the most beautiful woman in the world’s story are inherently associated with the brand itself. They are promoting this idea that if we travel (in sheek style obviously) and engage with other cultures, we are promoting sustainability because we will become more aware of the world. This idea has some truth, but I hate it how the brand is claiming that their product is a perfect vehicle for these transformational shifts.