Why Water Less™ Jeans – Interview with Levi’s® Designer

While I was never a big fan of green marketing, Ernest Li’s Blog post regarding Levi’s ongoing Water<Less campaign really caught my attention, since prior to reading the post I had little knowledge about the manufacturing processes of jeans and the water consumption involved. As described on the company website and briefly on Ernest’s blog, these Water<Less jeans are made using a technology that saves up to 96% water during production, yet they are essentially the same products as other Levi’s jeans in terms of price or quality.

In Ernest’s post, he brings up the issue that “are Levi’s really concerned about the wellness of the society or simply wants to enhance its reputation and profit”. He points out that since Levi’s are not charging any premiums for the Water<Less jeans, it must be truly committed to this campaign. While agreeing with Ernest’s opinions, I would like to provide some inputs in support for his claim.

Besides all the slogan mentioning how special the products are (which is somewhat strategic and aiming for profit), Levi’s also provides information such as how much water people use each day and promote reduction in water usage (which is less profit-based).

Other than the Water<Less campaign, Levi’s started a more recent campaign called Waste<Less. While its objective is also to improve environment, instead of saving water, this time Levi’s makes jeans out of recycled bottles. This further demonstrates how Levi’s is genuinely trying to fulfill its social responsibility, as it consistently promote these green ideas instead of treating them as a strategy to create buzz.