Dockers… Wear the Pants. Doesn’t that just say it all?
According to its Facebook fan page: “You’re not a bloke, not a fellow, chap, dude, cat, gent, or bro-ham. Face it, you are a man.”
Now, for all the completely over-the-edge feminists out there, I’m offering a contrarian opinion by Adiocracy.com who’s brand is, “Come across a piece of advertising that’s particularly inane or brilliant? We want to see it.”
Wendistry’s opinion, however, is that 2010 is the year of the man-backlash. I truly believe that most guys (read: middle of the road America, just-trying-to-make-a-living-and-do-the-right-thing) are sick to death of not knowing their place in the world any more.
Do they hold the door open for women any more? Do they stand at the table pull out chairs for women? Do they pick up things women have accidentally dropped?
As a woman, who likes her door held open, please, I really feel for men and I admire Dockers to staking a claim on an idea that I think will resonate and grow for them. For those men out there who like the new Dockers brand position, here’s where to get more: Art of Manliness
The original article above was posted on January 5, 2010. Here is a January 24, 2010 update:
Sitting here watching the NFC Championship game, Saints vs. Vikings, and man-oh-man… a Dodge Charger commercial. It’s “crafts-MAN-ship” and I’m feeling a manwagon coming on. What do we think, now?
About Wendi McGowan
“I truly believe that most guys (read: middle of the road America, just-trying-to-make-a-living-and-do-the-right-thing) are sick to death of not knowing their place in the world any more.”
I fail to see how “step away from the salad bar” clarifies said place. That’s one of the main problems with the ad: it literally makes no sense. If the message is about what it means to be a man, why are we talking about lattes and plastic forks? But that’s mostly a getting-your-ideas-across fail.
The other major issue that I see with the ad are the references to “androgyny” and “our genderless society”. I don’t think you have to be an “over-the-edge feminist” to see the offense in that. It certainly *sounds* like the ad is trying to connect the degeneration of society with a blurring of gender roles. Of course it’s ludicrous. Of course it’s really unlikely any man is going to see that ad and base his life on it. But that doesn’t stop it being offensive.
Agreed… most guys like a good salad now and then. Especially after the gorge-fest that are most people’s holiday experiences. However, disagree with you completely on “our genderless society.” One need only turn on Bravo, E!, or any other mindless entertainment channel to see the glorification of blending of the sexes and THAT is offensive to me. I do agree with you that rare is the man who will base his life on a Dockers ad. Still, kudos go to Dockers for taking a strong brand position.
Finally, to quote Tyler Durden, “We’re a generation of men raised by women… not sure if another woman is what we really need.”
I don’t understand exactly what you mean by “the glorification of the blending of the sexes”, so correct me if I’m misinterpreting your comment. Are you offended by other people choosing to express their gender in a way that differs from what you consider the norm? Or by other people, media, etc. portraying that choice in a positive light? What exactly is wrong with, or offensive about, a blurring of genders or gender roles? It doesn’t make sense to me how that could be offensive, so it’s possible I’m misunderstanding your meaning.
The Dockers ad seems to be defining a certain type of man as the ideal of masculinity and demeaning other types for not being manly enough. That’s what’s offensive to me—demeaning choice and differences and individuality. The fact is that not everyone interprets gender roles or expresses their gender in the same way. If Dockers was simply celebrating a certain kind of man—the kind who walks little old ladies across the street—the ad wouldn’t be offensive. It’s the fact that it’s disparaging another kind of man, based on completely unimportant things like what kind of coffee he drinks, as not being manly enough that makes the ad offensive.
I think the Dockers campaign is just acknowledging that’s its ok to not act like a wimp anymore. Maculine behaviour, judging from popular culture of the past 30 years or so, seems to have had an inverse relationship to perceived intelligence and civility in men. The more masculine the character, the dumber and less civilized the actor likely was portrayed. Truth is and always was, there are plenty of guys that do all the stereotypical masculine things like shooting, sports, etc. with a traditional male demeanor while simultaneously maintaining a high degree of education, civil comportment, and respect for the social graces benefitting a lady in accordance with cultural practices of a nearly by-gone era. Perhaps the Dockers ad is saying, “its now ok to not be a wimp, so you don’t have to play like you’re one anymore.” But whatever. If folks get offended by the preference for traditional roles for men and woman, then so be it. Lot bigger issues to worry about.
Well said, Bill!
I agree strongly with Bill on this. It’s time again for men to be able to be men without the assumption that it means you’re a Neanderthal.
“Real men” have physical and intellectual pursuits and know how to treat a lady while knowing that they don’t have to take [crap] from anyone. BTW, I’m not suggesting that women should take crap from anyone either, but it seems to me that far too many guys cow-tow.
Personally, I like gender roles. Not in the “Leave It to Beaver” sense necessarily, but it’s the differences that create balance. In some ways, this reminds me of the little league teams where every team “wins” (really, is that how life works?). It’s nonsense. We feel like we’re pumping kids up and making sure they all have good self esteem, but we’re really setting them up for false expectations and a sense of entitlement that is an illusion. Some of the best lessons in life I have learned, as a kid and as an entrepreneur, were from my failures. However painful those have been at times.
If we assume everyone has to be the same and treated the same, we’re setting ourselves up for disaster and therein lies the problem with an androgynous society. In order to bring everyone into a “blended” society, we would have to not only find a way to discard (ignore) peoples weaknesses, but we would also have to discard their strengths.
I’m not saying people should be treated badly (ever,) but don’t confuse everyone having equal opportunity with everyone being equally successful or equal achievement. We aren’t all equal in every regard, as people, in our gender, or even in our cultures. And, while I’m at it, we need to stop assuming inequality instantly implies someone is generally inferior. It doesn’t. It means we’re different, and that is a good thing.
Back to the ad: I think it’s simply suggesting that men need to take the reins back on their manhood and be proud of it. The way women (rightly) have become proud of who they are.
For what’s it’s worth, I still like an occasional latte and drank a lot of pina colada’s on the beach in Maui last week.