Man Up! Wear Dockers.
There's a bit of a controversy over Docker's latest ad campaign.
The campaign's main slogan: "Wear the Pants" isn't so bad really (unless your ass looks big in khakis or something.)
No, the problem is the ad's fine print, which waxes poetic
about the good old days when men were men, and by inference women and gay guys were probably nervous.
At least a couple folks out there are finding the campaign sexist
and possibly homophobic. Says Walletpop.com
the ads take "an unnecessary swipe at gay men through the use of common
wink-wink stereotypes. According to Dockers, a real man doesn't eat at
salad bars or order non-fat lattes."
Eh. I think that's probably reading a bit much into it. If these ads are trying to sell khakis by implying only real men wear Dockers
and gay men don't — well that's really more of a knock against the Dockers brand than
it is against the gays, right? As far as I'm concerned straight guys can keep those
pleated granny pants all to themselves.
I actually feel kinda sorry for Dockers and parent
company Levi Strauss. I mean, is this the best campaign they could come up with
to relaunch the label?
Dockers
brand president Jim Calhoun told the The
New York Times they were trying to reach younger guys with the new
campaign, "a 25-to-35-year-old who wants to act, feel and look like a
grown-up.” Somehow I think it misses the mark. Are young straight guys really all that nostalgic for the pre-metrosexual days of yore when guys "wore the pants."?