# Pioneers! O Pioneers! - Commercial **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818 "2009-12-03T05:37:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/21 "2009-12-03T20:53:26Z")
The only thing worse than seeing that commercial on TV where you can mute it, or fast-forward if you’re watching via DVR is being forced to watch that shit in a movie theater. It’s so pretentious that I deliberately avoided seeing the tag at the end of the ad, so I wouldn’t know who or what it was advertising. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/22 "2009-12-04T05:51:20Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > Someone posted it on youtube but they added some music. They said it is available from iTunes. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hWeTaL4ovI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hWeTaL4ovI) Thanks! Will Geer’s reading of the entire poem is excellent and suprisingly movng. I could do without the music though. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/23 "2009-12-04T08:42:37Z")
I’m assuming here if you like the commercials, you like Whitman? Therefore, if I hate Whitman… ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/24 "2009-12-04T09:19:52Z")
Next: Emily Dickinson for Stayfree Maxi Pads. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/25 "2009-12-04T09:20:59Z")
[Slate.com article on this ad campaign.](http://www.slate.com/id/2233597/) Among other things, it says that the voice in “America” is “believed to be” Walt Whitman’s. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/26 "2009-12-04T09:50:59Z")
Allen Koenigsberg, “[Walt Whitman (1819–1892) Speaks?](http://www.phonobooks.com/whitman.pdf)” > [@](#): > > APM took the tape to several sound experts, including the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives, and they were unanimous that the recording contained too much bass response for a hundred-year-old recording, and the [signal-to-noise ratio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal-to-noise_ratio) was much too high. > > So what is APM’s final opinion on this mysterious artifact? We believe that Edison did intend to record the poet’s words in 1889, but that this record is not the result of that effort. An actual sound recording from 1888: Thomas Edison, [_Around the World on the Phonograph_](http://www.archive.org/details/aroundworldonphon1888). ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/27 "2009-12-04T13:03:14Z")
I watched it kind of hoping they were going to go out and do something inspiring…I was kind of bummed when they just took their pants off together, and then later danced around a campfire half naked. I was hoping for better. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/28 "2009-12-04T13:18:06Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > As i said in an earlier thread, that commercial does not make me want to go out and buy Levi’s. It makes me want to crawl into a concrete bunker and wait for the apocalypse to end, the zombies to die, and/or the radiation to return to normal levels. That could take a while. You’re going to need some durable clothes. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/29 "2009-12-04T14:35:34Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Next: Emily Dickinson for Stayfree Maxi Pads. Because I could not stop for Flo she kindly stopped for me. The carriage held but just ourselves and loads of bleached laundry. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/30 "2009-12-04T14:46:04Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Next: Emily Dickinson for Stayfree Maxi Pads. E.E. Cummings for the Trojan® Her Pleasure™ Vibrating Touch® Fingertip Massager! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/31 "2009-12-04T14:59:30Z")
> [@](#): > > E.E. Cummings for the Trojan® Her Pleasure™ Vibrating Touch® Fingertip Massager! Why? Does that need small letters? Then it should be: e.e. cummings for the trojan® her pleasure™ vibrating touch® fingertip massager! Or is it because the tagline could be: _I’m cummings!_ ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/32 "2009-12-04T15:06:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Then it should be: > e.e. cummings for the trojan® her pleasure™ vibrating touch® fingertip massager! Either’s correct, though I concede lowercase looks more poet-y. “Cummings’ publishers and others have sometimes echoed the unconventional orthography in his poetry by writing his name in lower case and without periods. Cummings himself used both the lowercase and capitalized versions, but according to his widow did not, as reported in the preface of one book,[1] have his name legally changed to “e e cummings”. He did, however, write to his French translator that he preferred the capitalized version (“may it not be tricksy”).[2] One Cummings scholar believes that on the occasions Cummings signed his name in all-lowercase, the poet may have intended it as a gesture of humility, and not as an indication that it was the preferred orthography for others to use for his name.” > **[E. E. Cummings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings)** > > Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), commonly known as e e cummings or E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was imprisoned in an internment camp, which provided the basis for his novel The Enormous Room (1922). The following year he published his first collection of poetry, Tulips and Chimneys, which showed his early experiments with grammar and typography. He wrote f... ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/33 "2009-12-04T15:14:56Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I know where you are coming from **typoink**. When I found it online I started reading it and was amazed how repeititive it seemed. Then I started reading it out loud to myself trying my best to imitate the cadence of the performance in the commercial and tho I wasn’t anywhere near that good, it did increase my appreciation for the poem. > > . Actually, you will run into the same deal with the Odyssey and Beowulf, they need to be heard or read out loud to actually have the best impact. I have a fondness for the homeric imagery - wine dark sea … one of my favorite evenings with friends was once spent late at night on a lake, the air was grey with fog, and the temperature was so neutral that it felt like we were wrapped in velvet and the water was intensely dark but because of the full moon and fog, it was a ghostly grey light and a black velvet rippling lake … amazing. I am always reminded of that when I hear the Odyssey. Try [Leaves of Grass](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaves_of_grass) also … especially [I Sing the Body Electric](http://www.bartleby.com/142/19.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/34 "2009-12-04T15:32:19Z")
Never even heard of the poem until the commercial. Loved the imagery and ‘music’. I know that Levi exploited the poetry and manipulated my gullible ass, but I loved it anyways, and immediately googled it afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/35 "2009-12-04T15:36:39Z")
Well, pretentious or not, it did introduce me to a neat poem (with a powerful reading), so I’ll count that in it’s poem. Quite inspiring…if perhaps not the same way that [comes to mind for me](http://monsterrebellion.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/drsteel1.jpg) as for other people. I’m still holding out for a London Fog commercial set to [“Tränen des Vaterlandes”](http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tr-nen-des-vaterlandes/), though. ---
**Author:** ![StoutHearted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@StoutHearted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StoutHearted)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/36 "2009-12-04T16:34:33Z")
Count me as a liker of this commerical. Who cares what they’re selling? I just love the strong reading. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/37 "2009-12-04T16:44:28Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Only slight difference. Models live on wheat grass; the Donner Party just had regular grass. And the slower members of the Donner Party. I don’t like the commercials, especially the loud bang (gunshot?) at the end which hurts my ears. All those naked sweaty kids running around makes me think they probably smell bad and that they should get off my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![HISSNLISSN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@HISSNLISSN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HISSNLISSN)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/38 "2009-12-04T16:54:51Z")
Not to move this into Great Debate territory, but I’m of the belief that commercial advertising is inherently \*not \*art. I think if you peel back the layers a bit, the “Go Forth” campaign is more than a little deceptive and tactless. Without mentioning (though clearly I intend to, now) that Levi’s no longer manufactures in America (their only domestic operations are marketing and corporate) I would ask what, exactly, is the message of the ads? Alternately, what would a barefoot commie like Whitman have thought about his work being used to sell jeans? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/39 "2009-12-04T17:09:06Z")
> [@HISSNLISSN](#): > > Not to move this into Great Debate territory, but I’m of the belief that commercial advertising is inherently \*not \*art. I’m not sure I believe you can separate artistic and commercial intentions so neatly. But even if you can, it’s still possible to appreciate the ad on an artistic level. It did not even slightly increase the likelihood I will buy their jeans, but on the other hand, it’s more interesting and less annoying than many other spots that could have filled that 30 seconds, like a Pepto-Bismol commercial or something for ShamWow. > [@](#): > > I think if you peel back the layers a bit, the “Go Forth” campaign is more than a little deceptive and tactless. In other words, it’s advertising. > [@](#): > > I would ask what, exactly, is the message of the ads? Like most of the other Levi’s ads I’ve seen, it presents their jeans as a rugged piece of Americana. > [@](#): > > Alternately, what would a barefoot commie like Whitman have thought about his work being used to sell jeans? He probably would not appreciate it, but he’s dead, and I’m not convinced artists have an inviolable right to control the way their work is used. ---
**Author:** ![UTejas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UTejas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UTejas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818/40 "2009-12-04T17:12:13Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > Someone posted it on youtube but they added some music. They said it is available from iTunes. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hWeTaL4ovI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hWeTaL4ovI) It took some poking around, but it is there in the iTunes music store. Under Music -\> Spoken Word -\> University Players you’ll find it as track 3 on “Selections from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass” by The University Players. Will Geer’s name is not mentioned in the tags, so you can’t find it using his name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pioneers-o-pioneers-commercial/519818.md?page=3)