There's a lot going on in our world right now. Some marketers lean into the biggest issues of our day, while others seek to foster escapism.
Then there's this underwear brand that wants to talk about circumcision.
Why? Well not because it's topical. I can't say I've heard anyone mention circumcision outside of a hospital or bris in...I don't know, decades?
But maybe that's the point.
Australian underwear line Bonds and agency Clemenger BBDO created an ad in which men with "turtlenecks" and men with "crewnecks" chat amicably with each other about the differences in their apparel trims.
The spot, while not exactly subtle in its metaphor, has two aims: to generate discussion around a trend that's been shifting for decades, and also to get attention for the brand by breaking out of underwear marketing's constant focus on comfort and fit.
According to the agency, Australia's circumcision rate has plummeted from 80% in the 1950s to only about 20% today (thus the gender gap in the ad). America has also seen steady, though not quite as steep, decline in popularity of foreskin snipping, dropping from about 65% at the end of the '70s to 58% in 2010, per the CDC. (I learned in covering this campaign that specific and updated numbers are bafflingly hard to come by.)
Meanwhile, circumcision has been an especially hot topic in Africa, where researchers found optimism in its link to reduced infection rates of HIV, though there is—as with all things circumcision-related—a lot of debate around that data too.
So good on Bonds and Clemenger BBDO for getting me thinking about circumcision enough to spend the day googling CDC and World Health Organization data. I joke, but it truly is a fascinating topic, and as the brand's head of marketing, Kelly McBride, puts it, "The men’s underwear category generally follows tried and tested conventions, so we felt it was time to shake things up.”
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
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