I look for any opportunity to rail on Brett Favre in general, but this commercial actually has a lot to pick apart.
MARXIST
This commercial is Brett Favre promoting Wrangler Jeans. He is shown playing football in a muddy field with a bunch of guys (regular guys in their 30s, not pro football players). They're also shown hanging out in a pickup truck with golden retriever. The background music is "Bad to the Bone." In this commercial, Favre is clearly trying to take on a "regular" guy persona; he's unshaven and wearing a faded t-shirt (with #4 on it). Favre states that he's comfortable in Wranglers, and he looks comfortable hanging out playing a casual game of football with these guys. Of course, it's not hard to spot the contradition, which is that Favre is a multi-millionaire. He is promoting a product that is designed for the no-nonsense, middle-class type of guy, but he is far from a "regular" person. [On a side note, this is the same reason why I hate that "Pink Houses" song by John Mellancamp. Or actually just any song by John Mellancamp].
In this commercial, Wrangler is trying to associate itself with a middle-class lifestyle. By positioning its product with "all-American everyman" things like football, pickup trucks, and dogs--while using a multi-millionaire celebrity spokesperson--Wrangler is able to create an image of their jeans that has nothing to do with the price, and to create a humble image for Favre as well. The price of the jeans is never mentioned, not even in vague terms, but because of the humble image they're given in the ad, we assume them to be widely affordable--the irony being that Favre is the last person who really needs his stuff to be cheap.
FEMINIST
There are no women or kids in this commercial, not even watching from the sidelines. The ad portrays men as athletic, rough-and-tumble, and competitive. One of the taglines is "Built tough"--referring to the jeans, but also to the image of the males in the ad. The background song, "Bad to the Bone," enhances the image of men as hard-core. At one point Favre passes to a guy who dives into a giant puddle. The competition looks friendly enough (Favre is smiling), but the level of activity is definitely sort of intense for a game among friends. The voice-over states that Wranglers are built durably and comfortably, suggesting that they'd hold up to an intense game without getting ruined. The men are tough, the jeans are tough. This ad shows a community of men that women--who according to the stereotype are weak and fragile--cannot be part of. It seems to suggest a strong dichotomy between the sexes.
A funny thing about this ad is that even though it's selling men's jeans and only men are shown, there is definitely a close-up of Favre's butt. Hmmmm.
Well done Emily. I actually wonder if Wrangler has a female line? I am particularly tickled now with all of the Brett Farve hoopla out there. He is a tough, good ol' boy... who is also makes dumb technology mistakes that run his name through the mud. Hey, now his name will match his dirty jeans, right? The Marxist viewpoint is dead on. They are just regular guys, playing an American sport in the American country land with their trusty dogs. Pretty blatant. Nice job.
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