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Email a FriendPosted by Debbie in GA on Monday, Dec 21, 2009 1:38 PM (EDT):
Most men wouldn’t read the ad anyway.
"Man"ifesto
Says You: can khaki pants resurrect chivalry?
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Reviews on Monday, December 21, 2009 12:00 PM
Have you seen the new “wear the pants” ad from Dockers?
A girlfriend gives the ad a big thumbs up.
She posted this, with a link to the ad in question, to her Facebook page:
“Last month, in a rare outing without the kids, but still visibly pregnant, I was on a full airport shuttle between the gates and baggage claim. Women, including myself, and elderly folks were standing, some moms were sitting on the floor of the shuttle with kids, yet many men were sitting, some with their suitcases on ...the seats next to them. I texted “Chivalry is dead” to my hubby as I balanced my off-kilter self and luggage between a window and handrail. I could not think of a meaningful way to register my disappointment other than to vow to raise my boys to be genlemen. It seems like Dockers marketers have noticed the same trend. I like this campaign and am off to get the husband, who is a gentleman, some new khakis….”
I imagine that is exactly what the company wants by way of reaction.
Nevertheless, predictably, there have been charges of sexism and even homosexual-bashing.
Obviously the main goal of the company is to sell its product; equally obvious is that the ad is meant to amuse.
However, in pitching a product, sales-people try to appeal to a certain audience, so I thought this remark from a Dockers Vice-President for global marketing was interesting.
In an interview with Brandweek she said “sensitivity, chivalry, ambition and decisiveness” are on her wish list for the traits of “the modern idea of a man.” The new promos hopefully will “inspire today’s men to be men,” she said.
She clearly believes there is an untapped market in “manliness” out there. It will be interesting to see if she is right.
Here is the full text.
Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone. Men took charge because that’s what they did. But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men. Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khaki’s and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny. But today, there are questions our genderless society has no answers for. The world sits idly by and cities crumble, children misbehave and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown-ups. We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. It’s time to get your hands dirty. It’s time to answer the call of manhood. It’s time to wear the pants.
Says you: does the ad appeal to you? How effective would you expect it to be? And are you, like my Facebook friend, craving a return to chivalry?
Comments
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Posted by Carol Kennedy on Monday, Dec 21, 2009 2:18 PM (EDT):
Return to chivalry? YES!!!!! Does that ad appeal to me? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I were living in the US right now, I would be buying my husband dockers khakis!!!! Go out and buy them, ladies! Let’s support this notion….for our sons!!!
Just my 2 pence….from the UK.
Posted by AnneR on Monday, Dec 21, 2009 2:32 PM (EDT):
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Dockers! This ad totally appeals to me and would also appeal to my husband and definitely makes me want to buy him a pair of pants. I am so sick and tired of struggling to open doors with a big double stroller and three kids with me and seeing “men” just idly watching me struggle and doing nothing about it (yes, this actually happened a few months ago). I am making darn sure that my boys know how to treat a lady and how to act like a gentleman.
Posted by Julia Shonka on Monday, Dec 21, 2009 4:20 PM (EDT):
Interesting that Dockers is running this ad. My husband starting boycotting the Levi company after they withdrew their support from the Boy Scouts of America due to the BSA not allowing homosexual leaders….
That said, I really do like the sentiment in the ad.
A great ad! I agree that it would be read by mainly women who buy pants for their husbands.
My husband is very good about being chivalrous. He always holds open doors for me and others, and pulls my chair out for me at the table (at home and out). In fact, just this weekend at a restaurant, an older gentleman stopped by our table to thank my husband for holding my chair out for me before I sat down. “You don’t see that anymore!” the man said. It was a cute moment.
Posted by Tiffany on Monday, Dec 21, 2009 5:02 PM (EDT):
I like Dockers and most of my husband’s pants are dockers. If he needed more pants I’d go out and purchase some for him but since he wears his uniform to work and only wears his pants at home or on his days off, he doesn’t need a ton.
I agree completely that we need more chivalry in this world. But, I have seen more and more of it coming back, so maybe there is hope 
It’s a clever ad and I like their statement, but to be honest it wouldn’t make me go out and buy them because my brain sends off alarms when it sees ads like this. “Alert! They’re just trying to make money by playing to your traditional values” and “they’re only trying to change the amount in their bank account and not your moral culture”.
I know wonderful, manly, chivalrous men that wear anything from 20 year old overalls to dockers to baggy jeans with chain to tights and pumpkin pants on a regular basis.
I’d say lets stop the focus on what a man is wearing and more on what he is doing.
Like I said, it’s a nice ad campaign and if it were actually trying to change something rather than just sell pants, I’d be all for it.
Posted by Danielle M. on Monday, Dec 21, 2009 6:56 PM (EDT):
Love It! And, since my husband is probably in their target market it makes sense the ad is appealing to me, my DH hasn’t bought himself a pair of pants (or any other clothing) in 15 years
Posted by Rebecca Teti on Monday, Dec 21, 2009 9:57 PM (EDT):
Danielle, T., you remind me of an old bluegrass husband/wife duet that opens,
He: “I’m gonna wear the pants…”
She: “... I’m gonna tell you which pair to wear.”
Listen to it here. http://tinyurl.com/y92z7x5
Not a big fan ! First of all, it kills me how women want equality( or more) in the work place and everywhere else and are more than willing to do what it takes to get it but the moment that it’s not covenant for them ( like when they want a seat or someone to hold their door open for them) they expect men to know the difference. Come on ladies…. We can’t have it both ways ! Women’s libbers are the reason for the decline of chivalry so instead of blaming the men maybe we should take a good hard look at ourselves
Posted by Molly W. on Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009 12:54 AM (EDT):
I understand your frustration, but I have to say even if a woman wants the ability to make a living in order to support her self or her family if she chooses or if its necessary to be part of the workforce, receiving equal legal rights, having access to the education she desires, etc. doesn’t mean she wants to give up aspects of common courtesy. While I agree that certain “waves” of feminism are extreme when approaching aspects of courtesy, etc., most of us want what I listed above, but still want to be women and for men to be decent, courteous men.
Posted by Diane on Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009 4:48 AM (EDT):
I disagree….. when you say “even if a woman wants the ability to make a living in order to support her self or her family if she chooses or if its necessary to be part of the workforce, receiving equal legal rights, having access to the education she desires, etc. doesn’t mean she wants to give up aspects of common courtesy. ” I hear I want it all ! I will do what it takes to get to the top and if that means stepping on you” the man who supports your family” then so be it…. but yet you owe me courteousy, because though I want what I want, I also don’t want to give up what I don’t want to give up ! Again In my humble opinion…..... You can’t have it both ways ! If you can be a man’s equal in the work place, at school, or when you want to, you can’t expect to be the poor defenseless damsel in distress when your feet hurt and you want a seat that is taken up by a man ! Gee wizz, do you ladies really not get this? I really am not trying to be rude… nor am I speaking out of frustration but I see women seeking counseling every day who think that they are entitled to “it all” and the truth is that Men are people too and if women choose to compete in the man’s world, they must not expect preferential treatment or any coutrousy that is not extended to another man. There is a flip side to every coin.
Posted by Stacy on Wednesday, Dec 23, 2009 3:32 AM (EDT):
I agree, Molly…. Diane, would you hold a door open for a man who was struggling with a baby stroller, 2 kids, and some shopping bags? Of course!! So why shouldn’t we expect a man to do the same for us? Just because “we” (women in general) want equal rights and all that stuff, it doesn’t mean we should just ignore common courtesy. At 39.5 weeks pregnant, I stood in a restaurant lobby waiting for my seat for 45 minutes and not one single person offered up their seat. Would I give up my seat for an elderly or disabled man (the only thing i can compare to being 2 days away from delivering a baby)? of course I would… its about common courtesy and respect; and quite frankly I think you’re reading into this wayyy too much.
Posted by Devin Rose on Monday, Dec 21, 2009 9:31 PM (EDT):
I like it. It clear and concise and, while not enumerating all of the manly virtues, it does make a call to bring back manhood from its nerfed reality in our society. It certainly makes me think more favorably of Dockers.
Posted by L on Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009 1:04 AM (EDT):
I really like the fact that someone out there is brave enough to try to shake up our complacent acceptance of current cultural/gender sloppiness. Even if it is for retail purposes. Women need to go back to being ladies with dignity, self-respect, and use our feminine intelligence rather than acting like attention seeking, immodest, overly vain harlots and know it alls. Men need to be chivalrous, protective, and wise gentlemen, cultivating the finer levels of their minds rather than foul mouthed, sex-drooling, crude neanderthals who belch beer and laugh at farting. And we all need to be kinder, gentler, more refined. More Godly, all of us. The line “we need more grown-ups” says it all.
Posted by Angela Uttrich on Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009 12:20 PM (EDT):
I love this. It’s really amazing what happens to you as a woman when you start acting like a lady and treating your man like a man. They start acting like men. As a former feminist and career centered woman turned housewife and full time Mom, I have been amazed at the change in myself and the level of happiness and peace that exists in my house with the return of gender rolls. I was afraid that my husband would not respect the work that I do and that our family would fall apart if we made the changes that we made (because that’s what I was told would happen). However, instead of that happening my husband not only has much more pride in his work but respects for the amount and quality of my work.
This ad campaign is rather insulting to men IMHO. There may be a group of effeminate men who match the description above, but men have never ceased protecting society as firemen, policemen, and military members. They have not ran away from the most dangerous jobs necessary to keep our civilization afloat: coal miners, garbage men, construction workers, factory workers, farmers, and the men who do “dirty jobs” like the ones on Mike Rowe’s show. These men are heroes and they allow the rest of us to live civilized lives…and to have the opportunity to buy and wear Dockers. The men who handle the yuck and most danger of society don’t wear khakis; they wear rough and tough uniforms of some kind. 
Rather than thank men for their massive contributions to society, this ad and much of the talk surrounding the campaign on the net, bemoans the fact men at large aren’t giving women what they want in the form of the door opening sort of chivalry. All while men account for the bulk of workplace deaths (in many of the dangerous jobs I mentioned above) and the vast majority of war causalities, both in injuries and loss of life. With this in mind, men still obviously “provide and protect” for society. Maybe it’s time for everybody to step back from their own complacency and look around to see what men have actually been doing. This ad is not a ploy to attract those with conservative values so much as an ad to promote their product as a special sign of masculinity around those who need to purchase a product to feel like men.
Posted by Rachel on Thursday, Dec 24, 2009 11:24 AM (EDT):
Me at a homeschooling conference in a large hotel. Baby in arms, toddler in stroller, 4 children following closely by. Can’t take the stairs so we head to the elevator where we wait patiently for the doors to open and take us down. Nearby conference room door opens, six well-dressed men in suits appear, elevator door opens, they zip passed me and into the elevator before I can push the stroller forward. One suited boor hesitates, shrugs and smiles with just a tinge of embarrassment. I give a quick audible lesson to my young sons about gentlemanly behavior, doors close.
Posted by Daniel Hart on Friday, Dec 25, 2009 2:40 PM (EDT):
Good on you Rachel
I have to admit that as a retired male, ladies in Scotland often offer to allow me on to the bus before them.
It’s called “loving your neighbour as yourself.”
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with the dads or DHs all giving a hand, ladies.
Posted by threadbndr on Friday, Jan 1, 2010 4:15 AM (EDT):
My late husband and I struggled with this one in the 1980s and it’s been fun watching my son and DIL still trying to figure out the balance between equality and good manners.
They finally compromised on more or less the same strategy that W and I did. “Whoever has a free hand gets the door, but he pulls out the chair/does the coat holding thing when it’s a sit down meal.” And they both offer up seats to elders and say “sir and m’am”. Not sure if that last is a Marine thing (they met when they were both on active duty), or a ‘southern raised’ thing or maybe a bit of both.
One of the many things that I hate about widowhood it that there isn’t anyone to give me those little courtesies any more.
Posted by Christine Hebert on Sunday, Jan 3, 2010 9:58 AM (EDT):
The only problem is that Dockers are made by Levis and Levis are on the pro-life boycott list for their ties to Planned Parenthood.
I do like the ad, but I still won’t buy the pants.
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