Mermaids is one of Gondry's more straight-forward commercials. The story is about a man whose fishing boat is tossed by a raging storm. He soon finds himself tossed underwater, clothed in only his Levi's 501 Shrink-to-Fit Jeans. When he hits bottom, mermaids caress him exotically with their hands, lips, fins, breasts. Finally, they revive him. Yet their movements are as intoxicating as the song of the Siren. The tides turn: they want his jeans off! Tugging and yanking, there is no success for their torrent. The man flees to the surface with his jeans — and his sanctity — in tact.
The commercial is memorable in a few ways. One, it is set to Smoke City's seductive "Underwater Love." Gondry serves the sex ... er, story ... well by closely lighting the mermaids' incandescent flesh as they flutter about. In this darkness you can feel the fear of a large, sexy school of them looming nearby. Good jeans!
You can see it here, here.