Why Calvin Klein Ads Still Get People Talking

15 Jan 2024

Steamy images of Jeremy Allen White and FKA Twigs pushed the brand — which has a well-documented history of courting controversy — to the centre of conversation once again, proving casting and timing plus a little bit of provocation can fuel relevance.

KEY INSIGHTS:
Calvin Klein found itself at the centre of conversation this month because of ads featuring FKA Twigs and Jeremy Allen White — and the controversy that followed.
The brands’ casting of White, timed to a Golden Globes win and the debut of his first major Hollywood film, came at a prescient moment.
The UK’s Advertising Standards authority banned an FKA Twigs’ image, part of a larger Calvin Klein campaign, which ended up creating more buzz for the brand in the end.
Just a few days into 2024, Jeremy Allen White’s bare, muscled body — clad in Calvin Klein briefs — became the year’s first viral sensation.

The brand unveiled the ads on Jan. 4, instantly prompting a swell of online chatter. It only intensified after the images of White were plastered on Calvin Klein’s iconic billboard on Houston Street in the centre of New York’s SoHo neighbourhood, and the brand released a video ending with a dozen doves bursting into the sky alongside White spread on a couch, wearing nothing but his cotton stretch briefs and sneakers.

The ad was classic Calvin Klein, which has been synonymous with sexy, conversation-starting campaigns since the 1970s. In just 48 hours, the White ads generated $12.7 million in media impact value, data insights company Launchmetrics’ proprietary measure of engagement. For comparison, Bottega Veneta’s Pre-Spring 2024 campaign featuring paparazzi shots of Kendall Jenner and A$AP Rocky generated $2.8 million in 48 hours, said Launchmetrics.

The White ads were just the start of the headlines for Calvin Klein this year. On Jan. 10, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned a Calvin Klein ad starring a similarly-scantily clad musician FKA Twigs, stating that the images focused on FKA Twigs’ “physical features rather than the clothing, to the extent that it presented her as a stereotypical sexual object.”