This is Tom Brady's commercial for the Men's version of the Ugg boot brand. I'm not sure how popular Ugg boots for men are these days being a non-wearer, but this commercial is just ridiculous to me. As a poster boy in a way for the NFL Brady is a huge personality to use to market your product or brand. In society we see athletes as role models or heroes. Athletes in general are used to market many things, but they are usually athletic equipment or sportswear. Tom Brady is somewhat known as a "pretty boy" in the world of football. Being a quarterback he is protected by the rules too much and his marriage to a model doesn't help him to avoid additional spotlight. The fact that he is modeling and being a spokesperson for a boot generally known as a woman's boot is a big hit to his "masculinity". Societal implications would point to Tom Brady being feminine. I think he is entitled to do what he pleases for money and to market himself or a brand. That being said, I think this commercial is strange and doesn't help his image in society.
Having no idea what UGG boots were, I did not think this took away from Brady's masculinity. Also, old Godzilla movies being a guilty pleasure of mine, I couldn't help but notice how giant Brady was depicted and the similarity in the music typically used for the giant monsters. It made the boots seem powerful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what you said given the fact that this is traditionally women’s brand makes it an interesting choice of endorsement for Tom Brady. Although this being a women’s brand may hurt his masculinity in a hegemonic sense the fact that Tom Brady can rock these shoes and not feel the need to stick to strict male athlete stereotypes could argue that he is the manliest guy around. Being comfortable enough in the fact that you are a man not needing to follow stereotypes is pretty manly. Also the fact that Brady, a pretty boy who wears Uggs, can be married to a supermodel and still be a MVP quarterback argues that maybe more men should try to dress like him, which makes this a really strong endorsement. And really at the end of the day the awe factor helps sell, Joe Namath endorsed stockings back in the 70’s.
ReplyDeleteIt was an odd choice for Brady I agree. Ugg is a total women brand, I'm sure they paid him big bucks to endorse this product because of it. He is a manly football player and kind of breaks a mold by endorsing this product (pretty-boy shoes). I do think the filming technique was interesting though, it was like a day in the life of these shoes, and they don't really show Brady until half-way through the ad. This technique attracts the male audience because it really displays what the shoes could be used for. The fact that Brady appears late in the ad makes it more masculine, the audience it reaches is more broad because of it.
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