Say it Right: Pronouncing ‘Loewe’ in Short Film Starring Dan Levy and Aubrey Plaza
Jordan P. Kelley, Content Director, BrandStorytelling
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In a new short film, luxury fashion house Loewe takes on a subject close to its heart—its name. Titled "Decades of Confusion," Loewe brings together comedic talents Dan Levy and Aubrey Plaza to tackle the perennial problem of the brand's mispronunciation.
Penned by Dan Levy himself and directed by Ally Pankiw (I Used to be Funny, Shrill), "Decades of Confusion" plays with the decades-long struggle with the pronunciation of Loewe (watch the film for the pronunciation) in a way that is simultaneously playful and fashion-forward.
Archived Loewe pieces and modulation of the set and look of the film are used to mark the multiple decades in which our characters exist. The purpose for this is two-fold: the brand is over 150 years old and has a long history of creating iconic pieces including leather goods and other specialty items. As such, it also has a subsequently long history of being pronounced incorrectly.
The heart of the film lies in a whimsical spelling bee where Plaza, in character, hilariously attempts to spell the name "Loewe". Levy plays the glib and unimpressed spelling bee host whose impatience with Plaza's stalling and incorrect answers give way to funny asides and non sequiturs. The combination of the performers ad libs and personal humor with fashionable-but-comical styling are what make the film fun.
This isn't the first time we've seen Levy and Plaza leveraging their comedic chops in the brand space. Each respectively had prominent ads run during this year's Super Bowl, with Plaza appearing in spots for Mountain Dew's Baja Blast and Levy leading a series of ads for Homes.com. Together, and with a modicum of creative control, the duo demonstrate that by lending their creative and comedic expertise to a brand's content, they can help give a voice and ascribe a feeling to brands in ways that are more dimensional and playful than brands' core marketing and advertising.
"Decades of Confusion" is an opportunity to engage with a delightful piece of content led by fan-favorites Levy and Plaza, and is successful in delivering a lighthearted reminder that while pronouncing "Loewe" correctly might seem easy to some, it has been a source of bewilderment for many over the years. Through humor, charm, and the strategic application of various wigs, the film playfully aides those in the latter category in getting it right.
