by: Tiffany Hsu <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nA number of ads for briefs, boxers and other products aimed at men have lately turned away from old notions of square-jawed masculinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a Hanes commercial that made its debut last month, \u201cEvery Bod<\/a>,\u201d a wide range of men perform an elaborate musical number in their skivvies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A recent Jockey commercial focused on a man getting emotional as he described his battle with alcohol and drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The emphasis on men with ordinary bodies and others who don\u2019t fit tired stereotypes seems like progress for an industry that, a decade ago, featured a shirtless hunk scented with Old Spice.<\/a> These days, more and more advertisers are telling men they don\u2019t need to be the buffest or most interesting man in the world, just themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The challenging of stereotypical notions of gender has been a feature of marketing campaigns aimed at women at least as far back as Nike\u2019s \u201cIf you let me play\u201d<\/a> campaign in 1995. Dove\u2019s \u201cReal Beauty\u201d<\/a> ads, of more recent vintage, also functioned as a critique of ads that placed women in categories like \u201cbimbo\u201d or \u201chousewife.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Axe\u2019s \u201cbathsculinity<\/a>\u201d commercials, created by the 72andSunny agency, feature a man soaking in a bubble bath while musing that \u201ctingle\u201d is \u201cnot the manliest word, not like \u2018machete\u2019 or \u2018hand grenade.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n