Nothing sells jackets like the prospect of having hordes of hot girls chase you down to use you for sex.
The ad folks over at Jack & Jones clothing company recently launched this campaign for their new line of coats. The hook? Wear our jackets and get laid to the point of emotional distress.
The commercial depicts a sweetly accented, vulnerable guy explaining how girls “take advantage of him time and time again” and lamenting the demise of “romantic dinners, picnics at the beach, holding hands in the park.” “Women are pigs,” he declares, looking sadly off into the distance.
As cheeky as this commercial is—and it is pretty funny—the underlying message is still fundamentally flawed. Men who want romance and emotional attachment? Preposterous. Men aren’t vulnerable or romantic. That’s lady territory.
Of course, here at the Good Men Project we know better. Men do want connection and long-term relationships. In fact, studies have shown that men are more likely to believe in love at first sight than their female counterparts:
“Men, it seems, are more likely to believe myths about love at first sight, tend to fall in love more quickly than women, are more likely to enter relationships out of a desire to fall in love, and yet also tend to fall out of love more quickly. Romantic love, to men, is irrational, spontaneous, and compelling emotion that demands action. …”—sociologist Michael Kimmel, The Gendered Society
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And yet isn’t it strange that you still smirk when you hear the guy shout “I just want to be held!” through the bedroom wall?
Each jacket comes with a complimentary pair of headphones in packages showing the different kinds of “girl toy” you could be. Options include “outdoor living macho dude wearing a wool coat,” “casual cool big-city guy wearing a peacoat,” “urban sports hunk wearing a soft-shell jacket,” and, of course, “bad-boy rebel wearing a bomber jacket.”
All this looks like to me is an Axe commercial with a twist added to it. YUCK.
i help run a Bi-weekly men’s group, we get together BS, joke, eat, and talk about serious stuff, every meeting is a mix, every guy at the meeting has a different take on relationships, we range from 19-65 between the 11 of us, and we’re all good men.one of our guys is likely to be the one to honestly say, i just want to be held… he’s in it for serious emotional commitment and to him a lot of women ARE pigs ( gotta show him this commercial he’s lose it). We’ve also got polyamourists, bisexuals, monogamists, and even a… Read more »
I don’t find it funny. I just find it depressing.
hahahahahahahahahahahah
There is a line in the article that I will echo: “and it is pretty funny.” I like commercials like this because they *do* poke fun at the existing paradigms by taking them to the extreme. And hey — our top three most viewed articles for the week here on the are all about sexuality — and we’re damn proud of that. We simply want to be a springboard for discussions for people who do want to go deeper into the issues. For those who do just want a one-night stand — with us, or with anyone, intellectually or sexually… Read more »
Dialogue is good.
And hey, it beats beer commercials and men with erectile dysfunction sitting outdoors in matching bathtubs. At least we can all be thankful for that.
I certainly don’t think that a prerequisite for being a good man “means you can’t crave a one-night stand, a torrid affair or anything that isn’t monogamy.” But the overarching media paradigm is still that it’s ALL men want (or should want, for that matter). All this article states is that this isn’t always the case. It places no judgment on a healthy sex drive and of course, it recognizes that the commercial is a funny, light-hearted poke at social assumptions. Questioning those assumptions doesn’t equate taking offense. That said, thank you very much for your comments. It’s great to… Read more »
Why does it seem like being a “good man” means you can’t crave a one-night stand, a torrid affair or anything that isn’t monogamy? I love being married, don’t get me wrong, but I was a good man even before I met my wife when I was serial dating and hooking up all over the place. Just because most men eventually seek a fulfilling long-term relationship doesn’t mean we all do. And it certainly doesn’t preclude us from being a good man if we do opt for flings. This commercial was funny, and whether or not we like to admit… Read more »