Tuesday, November 19, 2013

"Show Your Joe" makes people grumble...

Proving that people can cause controversy about nearly everything, Joe Boxer's new holiday commercial for Kmart (which I didn't even realize was still around, since they all have gone out of business around here) has been causing people to get, well, up in...arms.



Conservative groups have decried the commercial, and have asked Kmart to pull it from circulation. Some on social media have called the commercial "a paean to pedophilia," because apparently "Joe Boxer isn't worn by anyone over 15 years old, so they must be targeting young men."

Seriously. It's a commercial for boxer shorts, people. Merry freaking Christmas, everyone.

1 comment:

  1. As a marketing professional (don't try this at home, kids), I think it's hilarious, and I'm not the target audience, I'm sure.

    If the same ad was done with women in something similarly modest -- let's say sports bras and a full skirt on the bottom -- shaking their breasts in the same way, I wonder how the reaction would be different. See also: not-even-clever Victoria's Secret TV ads.

    The Kmart ad reminds me of the Duluth "ballroom" jeans ad. (see here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=13-Rqjt5kwg). This ad is amusing although the double entendre tagline ("get a pair") is a bit crass. That said, I am not the target audience for this product!

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