A well-executed, very funny Brazilian ad from Ogilvy & Mather for Dove Men + Care shampoo that is bound to go viral (translated here). Ads that send up the absurdity of other ads often are very funny. But when an ad does, the absurdity that it’s usually frantically trying to… Read More »Use Our Straight Acting Cosmetics – Or Everyone Will Know You’re a Drag Queen
My attention was recently drawn by a concerned member of the browsing public to a piece on Salon.com, ‘Retrosexuals: The latest lame macho catchphrase’ by Aaron Traister, entertainingly lambasting the ‘new’ retrosexual trend: I woke up this morning to discover my local paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, peddling a story about… Read More »Retrosexuality isn’t what it used to be
Amidst the swathe of drearily predictable ‘decade in review’ pieces that appeared at the end of December this one by Amanda Hess at The Sexist stood out as one which actually managed to offer some observational cultural insight, rather than just recycled cuttings and cliches: Think boys are simply born… Read More »The Metrosexual Noughties
Achilles, Alexander, Jason, Odysseus – the fabulous scrapping, rutting warriors of the Ancient World fulfil every boy’s own fantasy. Now, says Mark Simpson, Oliver Stone’s Alexander and the recent crop of ‘epics’ confirms that Hollywood has abolished heroes – past and present. (Originally appeared Independent on Sunday, 19 December 2004)… Read More »Epic Illusions and Metrowarriors
Ever with its middle finger on the cultural pulse, this year, Gay Shame, the Duckie collective’s artsy alternative to the pink poppered-up roller-skating jollity of Gay Pride, has this year decided to go retrosexual. But unlike the mainstream appropriation of retrosexuality – e.g. those tiresome cloney beards all men, straight… Read More »Duckie Goes Retrosexual