"Face it, You're a Man"

Dockers recently launched a campaign in which they toy with the flaws in our shifting expectations of men and what our ideologies should be in regards to the ideal man. This ad textually tells a “once upon a time story” about the days when men were chivalrous, rugged, and picturesque male icons.

This ad calls out to us, reminding us of the days when men were expected to fit into a certain mold, and now that they’re breaking that mold in a “genderless society,” chaos ensues: “cities crumble, children misbehave, and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street,” all because men aren’t fulfilling their gender roles as completely and accurately as they ‘should’ be.

The design of the ad itself reinforces a “myth” of Dockers khakis being the ultimate sign of a true American man. Since the figure is composed of text, it allows the viewer of the ad to picture himself as this “ideal” man in the khakis. Dockers makes promises it simply cannot keep: “If you buy these pants, you/your husband/your son/your uncle, etc. will be a manly man who remembers the code of chivalry and steps up as your protector and does manual labor and all the things men did in the ‘good old days’.”

This ad blatantly forces us to remember what a man was ‘meant to do’ in society. The gender roles this ad plays on makes the ultimate man desirable and attainable. All you have to do to transform any wussy, selfish, rude man into a complete gentleman and perfect spouse is to buy him these pants. In this way, the ad more likely appeals to women’s desires than men’s; for, if men saw something wrong in their behavior, they would just fix it—they wouldn’t need the pants to do it for them. However, after men see this ad, they may see this product as a way to make themselves more manly and desirable; therefore the ad is unisex.