How Calvin Klein caught us off guard

It’s no secret that the internet is unequivocally thirsty.

Every few months there’s a spotlight on some guy who literally looks like he sneaked onto planet earth and social media goes crazy with infatuation.

There are two types of people here:

Those who are down bad, and those who are capitalising on your down-bad-ness.

Fashion icon Calvin Klein has always been fantastic at the latter.

And in 2024, the brand revamped its marketing strategy to be even more so.

With a heavy social media focus, Calvin Klein's recent campaigns have earned the brand a place in the cultural zeitgeist. And this has only built on its legacy as a pillar of American fashion, dropping jaws worldwide in the process.

Where were you when Jeremy Allen White dominated your social media feed doing pull-ups on a New York rooftop in nothing but tight-white Calvin’s?

It was a moment I’ll never forget. It was (NZ) summer of this year.

I was sitting on the balcony at my Waiheke Island Airbnb, mindlessly scrolling in the sun.

That’s when he appeared.

When I tell you I almost spat my iced coffee…

I had just finished watching The Bear Season 2 and hadn’t quite figured out if I found White's character, the lovable yet damaged Carmy, hot or not.

My mind was made up this day. I’m still unsure if I let out a 'yes chef' or not.

You would think we would be immune to Calvin Klein's 'hot celeb guy brooding in tighty whities' advertising by now.

I mean, it’s been their formula for decades.

But this one hit different.

Social media was FLOODED with reaction videos of jaws-hitting-the-floor watching the ad. Some videos were of people just staring up at the two-story billboard in SoHo.

Calvin Klein's first post of White on Instagram quickly amassed 1.8 million likes. Their preceding post, for comparison, had less than 34,000.

The ads generated $74 million in media impact value, $10.4 of which was in the first 48 hours.

But why was the impact of this particular campaign as immediate and inescapable as an atomic bomb?

Firstly, they used ingenious casting.

The appeal here was that Jeremy Allen White was not typically considered an Adonis status sex symbol. Not until these ads, at least.

It was jarring. I remember thinking, 'I did not expect that.' Of course, he is gorgeous, but he’s not every-woman’s classic idea of 'hunk' you would expect to see in a Calvin Klein ad.

And that’s wherein lies the genius.

We all love an underdog when he’s put on a pedestal.

Why?

Relatability. We love to feel as if we salt-of-the-earth, mere mortals can be Greek gods, too.

Why do you think Jacob Elordi’s CK ads didn’t even come close to the level of reaction Jeremy’s did?

Despite being drop-dead-gorgeous, it was too pristine. Too expected.

Boring, next.

Every brand dreams of doing what Calvin Klein did here.

They created a cultural moment.

This goes beyond marketing, which at best, captures consumer attention for a few fleeting seconds by jumping on an existing trend and haphazardly attempting to make it relevant to a brand.

The greatest campaigns do more than that. They don’t just ride on the coattails of cultural conversation. They drive it. Creating rather than merely responding.

Obviously, this is easier said than done.

With audiences fragmented more than ever before, it’s not enough to slap a big, lovable hunk on a billboard and call it a day. It’s not even enough to come up with a clever concept anymore.

The cultural moment balances on the perfectly fitting yet slightly unexpected partnership.

It breaks through the mass of other celebrity-driven marketing.

Timing is another crucial factor.

Knowing how to identify the right cultural figure or asset to partner with at the time, and what channel will best bring it to life.

There is no longer a mass media monoculture that drives conversations. You have to know how to engage with the culture in which your target audience resides.

Calvin Klein mastered this perfectly with the Jeremy Allen White campaign.

Firstly, the brand nailed the timing. White was increasingly gaining popularity on social media for his un-showered but somehow appealing bad boy look in The Bear. A photo from set had also become various hilarious memes.

The brand also planned in advance for White’s first appearance after the ads. This was at the Golden Globes, two days later, where he took home the award for Best Actor in a TV Series for his performance in The Bear. He was dressed head to toe in Calvin.

The campaign aimed to introduce the brand to a new audience, while featuring elements that appealed to recent trends championed by this younger cohort of consumers.

In Gen Z and Gen Alpha, there’s a lot of focus on retro. They love thrifting, and reinventing what was relevant in the past, updating it to make it their own.

This campaign weighed in on that.

When you think of americana, vintage fashion, you think of New York.  And everything about the campaign was so authentically New York, from the rooftop to the rooftop couch and the apple in his hand. Even Jeremy Allen White is from New York.

The authenticity of it all helped create a genuine touch that contributed to the making of this cultural moment.

Three takeaways:

Lean into the unexpected. Break the norm. Partner with people who aren't the obvious choice and create unique appeal for your brand. The world is used to conventional, so freshen things up.

Don’t make ads. Create cultural moments. Drive conversation that fits into the cultural zeitgeist. This involves having a deep understanding of your audience’s interests, values, and the cultural nuances that drive them.

Be authentic. This speaks for itself. The more authentic your campaign is, the more it will resonate with your target audience.

If you’re wondering whether I just wrote 900 words of being absolutely down bad for Jeremy Allen White… it’s my case study and I’ll do what I want, thank you x

-Sophie, Writer