If you want to sell something forget the scantily clad blond bombshell draped over the car hood. Go right to the father hunger in every man. Show pictures of fathers doing things that seem masculine. And confident. Point out their virility and adventurousness! No man wants an insecure metrosexual, gelding for a dad. That just will not sell. He’s gotta score with chicks and mock the insecure. And then talk about them passing on a legacy or blessing to their sons. Insert your product at this point so that men think affirmation comes in a bottle. You’ve heard of Liquid Courage, right? Well, now we have Liquid Fathering. Your dad consumed our product and look what kind of man he became. And aren’t you his son? Swell your chest and drink up, man, for you too are cut from his stock. We’re not selling whisky. We’re selling masculinity!
My wife found one of these ads in an outdoor magazine. I was drawn to the statement it makes about a sons desire to take pride in his father. But the types of fathers these ads speak about are repulsive. What a powerful revelation about the reality of men in our culture. We can now sell products drawing solely on men’s hunger to be fathered. When sex no longer sells, try fathering. They obviously are on to what we thirst for, but are clueless how to quench it.
Makes me think of a quote a friend sent me recently.
“They speak only of my drinking,
But never think of my thirst.”
Scottish Proverb
4 Comments
Sam,
I saw these same ads in Chicago recently when I was at the investment conference. The company that owns Canadian Club, Fortune Brands, was giving a presentation. They were very proud of these “new” ads and how they were revitalizing a stale brand. The ads brought back memories of all of the role models in my life as a teenager. The masculinity of hard drinking, womanizing and hard living was what was bestowed upon me. Definitely not the masculinity that I want to bestow upon my son.
I enjoy your words here. Thanks.
Bary
wow. That’s fascinating and sad to hear how excited this company was. If only they understood the deeper needs of men and how their ads manipulate that. Ugh.
Sorry you suffered under men with the same terrible picture of masculinity.
I see this blog post is an oldie, but a goodie. Thanks for bringing this to light, Sam.
Thanks Brian. I know you get these realities of men more than most. Thanks for how much you work to change the meaning of masculinity in our culture. We need a lot more men like you!