Levi Strauss & Co. used its first Super Bowl commercial buy to promote its fast-growing Dockers brand in this and another spot (the first-quarter "Toy Boats"), both by the San Francisco office of Foote, Cone & Belding.

The Dockers ads were a departure for the brand, as Stuart Elliott wrote for USA Today before Super Bowl XXV:

The ads haven't changed much since Dockers was launched in 1987. They have shown male buddies sitting around as a shaky camera focused on pants-clad body parts.

The new ads -- shot with a steady camera -- show male pals from head to tow. And now the men are out at a park, an airport, a pool hall, a racetrack. The new slogan: "Relax, you're among, friends." 

"The object of the first campaign was to establish Dockers, (and) it was extremely successful," says Steve Goldstein, consumer marketing director for Levi's menswear division. "Now we want to build on our base of satisfied customers ... by showing Dockers worn in a broad variety of occasions."

Levi Strauss flanked the in-game spots with an ad beforehand and another after.

It would be a while, but Dockers came back to the game, in 2002 with "Little Black Dress" and 2010 with "Men Without Pants," all by FCB, by then using very different creative approaches.

BRAND: Dockers

YEAR: 1991

AGENCY: Foote, Cone & Belding

SUPERBOWL: XXV

QUARTER AIRED: Q2