This ad for Dockers khakis premiered during the 2010 Super Bowl. A band of men – with fully clothed torsos but wearing only underwear – meet up and march across a vast, dry grassland. They sing “I wear no pants,” as a rousing chorus. This ad was part of a larger campaign by Dockers, calling on men to “wear the pants”, drawing on the idiom that means to be in charge of a relationship/family. The men in this ad are mocked for being emasculated – that is, pants-less – and are urged to reclaim their masculinity by buying and wearing pants, specifically Docker’s khaki pants.

discussion

What symbols of “masculinity” feature in this ad? Consider visual and audio cues.

How and why is masculinity associated with “wearing pants”? What does it mean to “wear the pants”? Consider both the advertisement and other historical and social contexts.