You’re going to like being slaughtered on the Western Front, I guarantee it.
by awindram
[tweetmeme source=”awindram” only_single=false]
The latest Men’s Wearhouse* advertisement just flashed across my TV screen, and maybe it’s because I’m British, but I found it to be a real “what the fuck” moment.
Like all Men’s Wearhouse ads it features the company’s CEO George Zimmer, but instead of previous efforts where Zimmer just waxes lyrical about how “you’re going to like the way you look, I guarantee it,” this time they’ve decided to freshen up the brand.
This new ad. features a narrative where some preppy little modern-day git walks into a place that clearly isn’t a Men’s Wearhouse and like a moronic shit ignores the obvious – which is that this place is clearly not a Men’s Wearhouse – and ignoring what’s clearly in front of him in the way only the truly stupid can asks if it is a Men’s Wearhouse. Instead of staring him down, beating him senseless and then telling him to fuck off, which in the circumstance would be perfectly justified, the people he asks actually tell him that he can find the store over the hill. Having told him this, they then decide now is just a great time to act as brand evangelists and so tell preppy git all about the great clothes he can expect at Men’s Wearhouse and that the store even offers an on-site tailoring service. How charmingly helpful of them! So off goes preppy git to Men’s Wearhouse where he meets Zimmer who looks directly into the camera and – in his best Harvey Fierstein sound-a-like voice – tells us, “there’s a place men belong – that place is Men’s Wearhouse.”
And what was the scenario that the ad agency came up with to place this narrative?
A trench in the First World War.
That right. A TRENCH IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR! Not only that, but a trench that is being heavily shelled by artillery.
Oh, and we mustn’t forget, my favourite moment of the ad when one soldier goes to great pains (literally) to tell us about the benefits of on-site tailoring as he is being stretchered away wounded. “Yeah, I’m bleeding to death from shrapnel wounds, but before I bite it, I better tell preppy git here about the tailoring options at Men’s Wearhouse. They do a snip here, a snip there.” I’m actually only partially making this up, that final sentence is actually in the script – I do hope those aren’t the poor sod’s final words.
How is this not brand suicide? If this played in the UK, the only thing Zimmer would be able to “guarantee” would be a sack-full of complaints and tabloid outrage.
But even leaving aside whether it’s in poor taste or not, solely as an advertisement I just don’t get it.
It’s not funny. I mean, I know comedy is subjective, but no, this really isn’t funny. I’ve had funnier bowel movements than this ad. And is an advertisement of this sort the place to attempt to make light of war? Getting genuine laughs out of war isn’t easy and, gee – as if it needed to be said – a Men’s Wearhouse ad is no M.A.S.H. As for comic depictions of the First World War, well it’s pointing out the obvious, but it’s a very fine line between the brilliance of Blackadder and the abomination that is Up The Front – it’s asking a lot of an ad for a suit hire company to try and navigate that line.
I think they want us to relate to preppy git. But how insulting is that? It’s a pretty big F.U. to your customer base by comparing them to a guy so dumb that he mistakes a trench on the Western Front for a Men’s Wearhouse.
Or then again, maybe he’s got a point. Maybe all Men’s Wearhouse stores really are that bad. Maybe they do indeed look like war zones. Perhaps on entering a Men’s Wearhouse you find yourself being bombed by German shells and that the store is littered with the corpses of comrades while those poor members of staff still alive are to be found shivering with rats in the mud and shake in shit-inducing fear at the thought of going over the top. Zimmer had told them all they’d be back home in time for Christmas, but three years later they’re there, still stuck in Men’s Wearhouse and suffering from trench foot. Having once visited a Mens Wearhouse in Queens, I’m not entirely dismissing this thought.
I assume, however, they’re not trying to draw an analogy with the death of 10 million troops during the First World War with Joey from Trenton picking out a tux for his High School prom because that really would be fucking crass.
While I’m unwavering in my belief that this particular ad is confusing, garbled and utterly fails to be on brand equity, I also wonder if some of the issues that I have with it are less of an issue for a US audience.
Of course, I’m not saying that Americans are less aware of the horrors of this conflict. But I do wonder if the First World War has less symbolic resonance in the US than it does in the UK or in Canada or in Australia or countless other countries. It’d be entirely understandable, if true. For the US it was a relatively short war and while they suffered significant casualties, not on the scale of other countries. The deaths suffered by the UK amounted to 2.19% of the country’s entire population. That’s a phenomenal statistic, though Germany and the Ottoman Empire suffered even greater losses. The US, by contrast, lost 0.13 of its population. This is in no way meant to belittle US involvement in the war (heck, US entry was the decisive factor in the war ending when it did rather than it carrying on for longer), but merely to hypothesise that the collective scarring for that generation of Americans and the perception that future generations have of the war are likely to be very different from nations that experienced the decimation (in the literal sense of the word) of its young, male population.
From a UK perspective, the war ripped apart the old Victorian social order and its cultural memory permeated high and popular culture in the UK throughout the early and mid-twentieth century – the poetry of Owen, Brooke, Sassoon, Graves and Rosenberg; the art of John Nash, Francis Wyndham and Henry Tonks; the phenomenal success of R.C. Sheriff’s Journey’s End. It’s a war that is taught to all school kids, with history teachers throughout the country using it as an excuse to show their class the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth. Sebastian Faulks and Pat Barker have built successful literary careers writing about the war.
Unlike the Second World War, which is often reduced down to a battle against Fascism, a battle against right and wrong, the First World War is seen as a pointless, needless bloody slaughter of a whole generation for no discernible reason; to quote Blackadder, ” the real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort not to have a war.” Of course, the truth is a little more sophisticated than that, but that this was the unnecessary war, the war that first comes to mind when we wear poppies for remembrance day, is pretty much a given in the UK (and, of course, in other countries).
Seeing this ad, along with some conversations that I’ve had with Americans, make me wonder whether the First World War holds a similar place in the public consciousness of the US as it does in the UK. At the very least, to me the First World War seems to be part of the cultural discourse in the UK in a way that doesn’t seem to be replicated as far I’ve experienced in the US. In the US is the First World War “fair game” for ad campaigns such as this one touting tuxedo hire now that there’s only three veterans still with us? Do Americans find that ad as off-putting as I do? Would it make a difference if it were a trench in the Civil War? I’m genuinely curious as to what others think.
Sorry, I’m prone to occasional bouts of ranting. This wasn’t a post I intended to write, it just sort of happened. Here’s Radiohead’s tribute to Harry Patch who died last year and was the last surving veteran of the war to actually fight in the hell that was the trenches. The tribute might help eradicate the memory of that Men’s Wearhouse ad.
“We came across a lad from A company. He was ripped open from his shoulder to his waist by shrapnel and lying in a pool of blood. When we got to him, he said: ‘Shoot me’. He was beyond human help and, before we could draw a revolver, he was dead. And the final word he uttered was ‘Mother.’ I remember that lad in particular. It’s an image that has haunted me all my life, seared into my mind.”
Harry Patch (1898-2009) The Last Tommy
————————————————————————————————————————————
*Note for UK readers: Men’s Wearhouse obvious UK equivalent would be Moss Bros. Both being a place to hire tuxedos for weddings, etc.
Culturally Discombobulated 
This type of advertisement just doesn’t make sense. So glad that generally Aussie advertisements somewhat make sense 99% of the time.
Australian ads may make sense, but they are pretty devoid of creativity. I am amazed at how poor the standard of ads are in aus
This ad is pretty dumb for sure, but if all they are trying to do is build awareness then it may work on some level.
Thanks for commenting.
No, the brand doesn’t really need to build awareness at all. It dominates the US in its market and you’ll find a Men’s Wearhouse in most every high street in the US. They’ve had a successful ad campaign for a number of years utilising their CEO as part of their brand equity. These new ads are an attempt to “freshen” up a very established and successful business.
Interesting and perceptive post. Instead of the Civil War comparison I wonder how the ad would play in the US if it were based in the jungles of Vietnam.
To your point, for most Americans World War I is not in our consciousness at all. I recently wrote a post about our collective ADD in dealing with tragedy at http://www.middleofthefreakinroad.com
Hi, thanks for commenting Thomas Paine (great username, btw).
Yeah, I went with the Civil War comparison because I think they’re both difficult ones to judge for whether it’s offensive to use them in this context or not. Both use trench warfare and can be seen as the first examples of a modern war wish casualties on a much larger scale than previous wars and the increased use of mechanised methods of killing. But both have now slipped into the annals of history, and so advertisers aren’t going to run the risk of upsetting veterans as would be the case with WW2 or Korea or Vietnam. I wonder if the fact that both wars are the first to be extensively photographed has something to do with my feelings on the matter? It seems that sort of documentation brings an immediacy to those conflicts that will never entirely dissipate unlike earlier wars. Thanks for the link to your blog – will be sure to check out that post, sounds fascinating.
I completely agree. What the f__k! Thanks for posting this.
You could be correct about the first World War not having much of a connection here in the states. The second World War is more of a connection I think with most of the generations today, since most of our fathers and grandfathers, etc were more affected by that then the first. If more people were still alive that were in that conflict I think it would be different.
Interesting take on the commercials. I’ve seen the preppy dude one but I had not seen the war commercial. I’ll have to look for it and see what impression it makes.
Hi Keith,
Thanks for commenting. Your point about the personal connection current generations have with WW1 is a good one and not one I’d really considered. I have to confess to being a bit of an anomaly for someone in their late 20s in that one of my grandfathers did serve in that war.
Despite your point, I still think there’s a difference with how the war is thought in the two countries. I can’t think of any recent Hollywood films that tackle the war. The only two that spring to my mind are Sgt York and All Quiet on the Western Front and they were both made when the conflict was very much fresh in the mind for the audience. Since then, nothing. By contrast, I can think of numerous British novels, films and TV shows that have dealt with the conflict that have been written or released in the last 20 years.
Wow..I hadn’t seen this ad but I agree 100% with you…it isn’t funny and it is insulting truly. I am an American and I think you are probably correct when you say that WWI does not hold as much of a place in American Consciousness as it does across the pond. We have much more public consciousness to WWII and other wars and actions I believe.
Hi Sophia, thanks for stopping by here and commenting.
That’s a particularly bizarre advert, it has to be said. What on earth were the alleged ‘creative’ types thinking about?
No idea. Irritatingly, I’m sure they were well paid for their “creativity”.
Having never seen the ad but having read your post……I hope I never see it. What idiot ad agency thought that would be OK? Just dumb.
Thanks for your comment Eviejane.
I’d missed the commercial, so thanks for pointing it out and giving me a reason NOT to shop there. Zimmer’s not the most compelling pitchman to begin with — I mean, does anyone really want to dress like him — but this spot doesn’t work on any level. As a customer, am I supposed to identify with a 25-year-old preppy who can’t tell the difference between a Men’s Wearhouse and a war zone? Am I supposed to think that Men’s Wearhouse is now a store for guys who’ve just outgrown Gap?
http://www.toddpack.com
Lol. I know what you mean about Zimmer’s own sartorial elegance – or lack of.
Thanks very much for this thoughtful reaction to that stupid ad!! I actually hadn’t seen it before (despite being in America, I don’t watch much TV) but it is definitely a few rungs below the usual mediocre MW ads.
You’re right to guess that WW1 has a very different connotation/memory for Americans than the British, that is, if Americans have a memory of it at all. I think it’s just long enough ago that it has that kind of old-timey novelty to it, when you see the tin hats and puttees, and has been overshadowed by far by all the “Greatest Generation” rhetoric for WW2. We do have dozens of WW1 memorials around, especially in small- to medium-sized towns, but no one’s aware of them anymore.
As for the connection between manliness and trench warfare, I definitely don’t see the connection MW is trying to make. If the place for men is that store, why bother showing the trench? And because of Americans’ general lack of associations with WW1, why would that resonate with anyone?
The only thing I can think of is that in the US, WW2, Vietnam, certainly the Gulf, and probably to a lesser extent Korea, would be too serious of topics to use in the ad. Probably even Civil War and Revolutionary. So the natural choice for “generic war setting” that wouldn’t trivialize one of the great canon of U.S. war images, had to be WW1. Maybe that concept is bolstered by the idea that standing in a trench and getting shot at was not “real” war in the American sense – not enough running around, yelling, and raising flags.
My take on it, is that if the ad wanted to go with a dangerous-but-not-offensive “manly” environment, I would have gone with some kind of cowboy or rancher situation, or possibly the Old West. The possible downside is that your suits would be associated with cowboy hats and leather chaps and so on, but clearly there is no connection between khaki WW1 uniforms and MW suits, either. So they should redo the ad where the idiot (git) stumbles into a High Noon style showdown or something. That would play better to an American audience, and not trivialize the experience of war, especially WW1. (Not that the Old West was fun-and-games at all, but we’ve already mythologized it so heavily that you might as well add to the heap.)
And thank you Anna for your thoughtful response. The Wild West idea is inspired. Not only would it not have the awkward connotations that their WW1 setting has, but that seems like a setting where they could get some actual comic mileage out of.
First of all I agree with you, it is a strange, unfunny commercial and the stitch here and there line is also incredibly disturbing. As an American, I can say, honestly most of us don’t think very much about world war one. Also very little of it is taught in our schools, and in fact I don’t remember being given an assignment on any literature dealing directly with warfare, it is considered very politically incorrect to assign those things.
Personally I have always been fascinated with the great war. It really did rip apart the European continent. In fact there was a staging of Journey’s End, in New York City, it won a tony, but was closed very quickly due to abysmal ticket sales. I had the pleasure of seeing it, and it was terrific. Our world war one I think is Vietnam. It is the war that tore apart the American psyche. Even after we are as far removed from Vietnam, as we are from World War One now, it will not be something that a commercial like that could ever be about. You probably couldn’t do it in the states about the Civil War either.
That’s a real shame if colleges are shying away from teaching the war poets. The likes of Owen and Rosenberg are a world removed from any kind of Nationalist tub-thumping if that’s what they’re worried about.
I think you’ve nailed it with your point about Vietnam and the American psyche.
Thanks for reading and posting.
I just have to agree with your comment about what we are taught in school – my own beef is particularly about 20th Century history. We never seemed to get that far in any of our history classes. Further, I would say that history is the red-headed step child of the public school system in the US. In the entire school system I was in I was not aware of any history teacher that was not also a coach; and that include Ms. George who coached the cheer leading squad. At that point in time we (North Dakota) were ranked #2 in the nation for standardized test scores! How can that be? I am curious how other states approach the subject. I’ve honestly learned way more about 20th Century armed conflicts from popular culture (yay Blackadder!) than school, and College wasn’t much better. It’s all names, dates and places but no context. Thank the maker my dad is a historian or I’d know practically nothing at all!
Thanks for this.
Everyone is so quick to be funny these days that they don’t give enough thought to how insulting it can be. Like in this case to all veterans. Rants like this are needed more. Rant on!
I agree with your assessment of that Men’s Wearhouse commercial. I was never much of a fan of theirs. I think Burlington Coat Factory has much better deals on their suits…they look just as good, but cost less. And that’s my two cents.
The Codger
http://thecodger.wordpress.com/
I think only a very astute American would feel the commercial is bad taste. American TV isn’t exactly known for its refinement.
The thing to remember here is that Capitalism is a raving sociopath cannibal, and its main lair is in the US. We get to see a lot of this stuff in Canada, the border being porous to TV transmission, and some of the cherished national icons they’ll feed to the pursuit of a couple of extra sales just startle me– if George Washington and Abraham Lincoln aren’t safe, how much less so a war that wasn’t popular in the first place and you missed three-quarters of?
I do not shop at Men’s Warehouse – because I am a woman – but this ad is just ridiculous. They are running out of ideas. On the states side, I have not seen this ad, but I am sure it comes on during Bob Vila or something.
When I first saw the ad on TV, my first thought was, “Is it really okay to make light of WWI like that?” Granted, nearly all, if not all, veterans are passed, now. But still–trench warfare isn’t exactly comedy gold. Plus Zimmer creeps me out.
Brilliant post.
I haven’t seen that particular ad, but around here (Toronto, Buffalo) Men’s Wearhouse has been airing an even-more-stupid, albeit less offensive, ad wherein the git climbs into the back of a van parked on a lonely darkened street. Inside the van he finds two tough-guy police types using surveillance equipment and asks them if he’s in Men’s Wearhouse. The same sort of conversation ensues.
Apparently real men spy on other people and wear suits.
That’s sounds really odd too. Will have to keep an eye on that one. Are they building up to something? Is preppy git going to stumble into Abu Ghraib and mistake it for a Men’s Wearhouse?
Two CHEERS for you. I only had to read down half of your blog to realize this inane commercial deserves to be ripped apart. It is so NOT cool and so bad for Men’s Wearhouse image, they have no idea, but will soon if this and your blog gets out much more. Your title attracted my attention so much, well done on that.
It could have been worse. It could have been a scene from WWII.
That’s going to be the next ad.
When I started reading this blog post I thought it was a bizarre joke. Then I watched the imbedded video.
What the…
After I watch a horribly misfired ad like that, I sit back and try to imagine someone bringing up the idea in the boardroom at the ad agency and everyone else looking at eachother, saying, “Yeah. Let’s do that!”
Really?
Whoever pitched it, you’ve got admire their chutzpah.
This definitely made me stop and think! I’m American, and I think it’s ridiculous that Men’s Wearhouse would use something so casually in their commercial.
Although, you do bring up and interesting point. I think you’re right that WWI isn’t as prevalent in American culture than the U.K.s or anywhere else. Perhaps you’re right – if they had used a battle from the Civil War, or even just WWII, there’d probably be a bigger deal about it.
Regardless, I find it offensive, and dishonorable to all of the brave soldiers.
Hi Lydia, thanks for commenting. Looking forward to your blog when it’s up and ready.
[…] By ddeuts1 I came across this very interesting blog post, which is a Brit’s take on a new marketing tactic deployed by Men’s Warehouse. In a […]
I do agree with you but cannot bring myself to criticize free speech. If these ads exist they do so because they work. Most people find beer ads rather stupid, but they work marvelously on the average boozehound. Even if we don’t like the commercial our brains will usually just ignore it and not vent any hate towards the store while still remembering the name. Also I want to point out that many of us from younger generations don’t connect to the war that well. We do not see heroism but rather the media glorifying the allies as the good guys. To us, in the first world war unlike the second, the soldiers were not fighting for a just cause but an irrational anger towards the enemy and glory, which ended up causing another world war. The annual remembrance day ceremony draws so little enthusiasm that one of my classmates fell asleep during the presentation. I think we have become cynical and self centered enough to think that war is merely the struggle for groups to secure resources and that courage is merely the illusion of invincibility and selflessness required for the individual to act that way and not think otherwise so their offspring will be well taken care of and they will not think they are putting up an act.
Sad but true.
Firstly, thanks for commenting.
I am, however, a little confused by your conflating a rant about an advertisement with a critique of free speech. When Men’s Wearhouse hired whichever agency they used, they didn’t do so that the agency could exercise its first amendment rights but to establish or build upon an already existing brand equity. IMO, the agency failed in that brief.
Also, your reasoning that these ads exist so they work is a logical fallacy. Clearly, advertising campaigns go wrong – you only have to look at Sergio Zyman, one of the most successful marketers of the last 30 years, and how even he managed to get it so wrong with New Coke. It’s about building a brand and getting through a simple message. In fairness to Men’s Wearhouse, their brand equity has been impressive, the way they’ve utilised Zimmer and the “you’ll like the way you look” tagline. If they’d just put any old crap with the assumption we’ll ignore the content and just retain the brand name, the brand would not have been built up in the manner that it has. Likewise, a vodka such as Absolut which through advertising and design has built an amazing brand equity for itself. The advertising has been a huge part in why that product became a success. They work because message, brand and creativity complement each other superbly. This new campaign by Men’s Wearhouse gets it all wrong tonally. It takes a jovial tone but using an unjovial setting. It shifts away from the old ‘you’ll look good’ angle to talk MW being a place where men should go, which when you’ve tied yourself to a war setting sends out a mixed message. Put simply, the message is garbled.
In the simplest remark I can make, this is the most insensitive and in-appropriate use of advertising I have seen. I am twenty-five year Design and Marketing professional so I see all types of stories in multi media and print each week. Unfortunately, our youth here in America and elsewhere are being exposed to veterans in the industry that have traded in quality creative work that is original and respectful for junk like this. The ad is supposed to be funny; however, anyone with taste and educated wit will tell you otherwise. It is on the air simply because someone had the money to pay for it. Money does not buy class.
I’m all for bad taste when there’s some level of comedy, but this is just idiotic. It’s not doing anything in terms of promoting their brand or winning over the consumer- if they’re going to use a potentially offensive marketing ploy, it should at least be an effective one. I can imagine (and completely understand) the uproar that would ensue, were that to hit UK screens.
Hi Charli,
I agree with you entirely. I’ve got nothing against people using a potentially offensive topic for comedy, but this i just don’t get what they were thinking. I don’t even think it crossed their mind that it might be perceived as offensive, which paradoxically makes it more offensive and in bad taste for me. It seems thoughtless in the truest sense of the word, something comedians who (IMO) have brilliantly broached offensive topics, Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks and Chris Morris spring to mind,could never be accused of. Mind you, they wouldn’t be coming up with ads for a suit hire company.
The ads are working. You just wrote an entire blog about them, which draws attention to the brand. 🙂
😛
Arggh, they’ve tricked me into doing guerilla marketing for them, the bastards! Zimmer, you win this round, damn you!!
lol! hmmm… Is it better to ignore the outrageous advert in the hope they’ll stop airing it, or tear it to pieces and feel better? Tough call 😐
It’s like scratching a scab – feels great at the time you’re doing it.
Also, and this may well have got lost in the more ranting posture of the post, I was generally curious about whether my feelings were born out of a UK sensitivity re: this issue that isn’t shared to such an extent by the US. Going on the comments here, it would appear that’s not entirely the case.
[…] The latest Men's Wearhouse* advertisement just flashed across my TV screen, and maybe it's because I'm British, but I found it to be a real "what the fuck" moment. Like all Men's Wearhouse ads it features the company's CEO George Zimmer, but instead of previous efforts where Zimmer just waxes lyrical about how "you're going to like the way you look, I guarantee it," this time they've decided to fre … Read More […]
This is truly a “what the fuck???” moment- I completely agree with you- it is insulting even. Anything for a buck. Disgraceful.
Not feeling the add. It’s just plain stupid for a ‘new direction’. Rebranding to what… military uniforms?
Tasteless doesn’t even begin to describe this offensive ad! What on earth were they thinking!
I think you may be a wee bit generous in suggesting there was any “thinking” going on.
Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Upon seeing this commercial, I imagine most people will be in various degrees of repulsed, outraged, or confounded. What they won’t be is ambivalent or lukewarm. This, I believe, is *the sole aim* of the commercial: to get a BIG reaction. It’s the shock factor. And I promise you, even if the commercial gets forgotten, like pawnagebycounting proposed, the name of the store/brand will not. And isn’t that the point of advertising?
That’s an interesting perspective, interpretartistmama. I do think if they were intentionally going after for the shock factor they’d have made it a little more shocking. As it is, I think it was an attempt at humour that just hasn’t been thought through properly.
Thanks for popping by and commenting.
I agree this makes light of the tragedy of war, is insulting, etc. but I think you give too much weight to something that is inherently trite and insipid, namely a T.V. commercial.
Yeah. Can you imagine if they had done a similar ad but set in one of the Twin towers on 9/11?
Time lends triviality to tragedy, perhaps.
Fair point.
It’s a little bit distasteful I must say, my Great-Grandfather who served in WW2 told me that no matter what anyone says war is not great! He’d be outraged if he knew that people were using War in such a horrendous manner!!
http://sarcastic0fantastic.wordpress.com
This is a disgraceful advertisement for any business to do and I don’t condone it at all. However, as a young American I can speak from personal experience that I truly don’t have many feelings about WW1. I am aware of, mostly through my own research, the causes and outcomes of the war, but it does not strike much emotion in me. If I were to list the most impacting (both emotionally and economically) wars in US history, I would begin with the Revolutionary War, Civil war, WWII, Vietnam and then WW1 would come somewhere after. Still, I think all Americans know that it was a devastating war, but we think of it as more of a European War than an American one.
Hi gregw89,
Good points. I also wonder if the fact that from an American perspective it was a relatively brief conflict (1917-18) also has something to do with it.
You are correct in saying WWI doesn’t have much impact on Americans. I have to say I laughed my ass off at your tone in the beginning of your blog. It wasn’t until I got to Radiohead’s tribute to Harry Patch that I sobered up. I was reminded of my English teacher who said when WWI came about, Virginia Woolf, who couldn’t stand the thought of the coming war, put rocks in her pockets and walked into a river. Although I have never seen this ad before, it appeared ludicrous because of how you framed it. If I had seen it on tv I’m not sure I would have had the same reaction, I don’t know. If this ad took place in the trenches of the Civil War, or as someone mentioned, Vietnam, there would be outrage. But I have to add: at the time of WWI, the U.S. had the worst, possible president in its history, Woodrow Wilson, the biggest ass who began all the troubles we are now facing as a nation, and I’m being kind when I say that.
Hi Pamela, thanks for commenting.
Will have to be a good resident ailen and go learn more about Wilson. I know very little about him other his role during the Treaty of Versailles, setting up the League of Nations and that he had long academic career at Princeton before winning the Presidency. What he did domestically is pretty much a blank slate for me.
I think your English teacher got his or her Virginia Woolf story a little wrong. It was actually the second world war that pushed her over the edge and led to her suicide. Her home was destroyed in the Blitz and I think that was one of the catalysts for her death.
You are welcome, and thank you for the correction. Perhaps I remembered it incorrectly.
There’s a great book written by Jonah Goldberg, called “Liberal Fascism, The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Change,” which talks about the progressive movement in America that began with Woodrow Wilson. One of the worst things he did, that even he regretted after the fact, is he signed into law the Federal Reserve Act in 1913 which led to the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank — and that’s a whole other can of worms to open. Thanks for your great post because it got me thinking!
Actually Pamela, Woodrow Wilson was merely the second worst president in U.S. history, His historical protege is doing much, much worse.
-CC.
You’re probably right on that one!
Thank you for a very powerful article and for holding up a mirror to American culture and asking for reflection. I’m American but I’ve been living abroad for seven years and haven’t seen American television since I left the US in 2003. Often, I wonder if I will feel culture shock when I return to the States….This commercial is one small example of the ways in which militarism has been glorified and internalized as “just what we do” to the point that the images and histories of warfare are easily trivialized. I guess it’s even easier to trivialize war when we are taught to look at it through such a narrow lens and from the isolated safe-haven of American provincialism. Men just belong there, eh? Ugh.
The radiohead tribute gave me chills.
Oh, where are you living now, Kmariej?
When I moved to the US, my American wife who’d been living in the UK for a few years had some culture shock when she returned. I’m sure it’ll be the same for me if we moved back to the UK. Some days, I wonder if by living abroad for too long means that you’ll always be the “outsider” no matter where you end up living.
I see ads for that business all the time but hadn’t seen that one. Really odd. I guess they’re trying to say war is manly. (??)
As for World War 1, it holds pretty much no place in the American consciousness. I remember when I was very little seeing a few veterans of that war in parades. WWII and the Vietnam War are far more prominent for us.
[…] You’re going to like being slaughtered on the Western Front, I guarantee it. (via Culturally Discombobulated) Posted: June 16, 2010 by AA in WordPress 0 The latest Men's Wearhouse* advertisement just flashed across my TV screen, and maybe it's because I'm British, but I found it to be a real "what the fuck" moment. Like all Men's Wearhouse ads it features the company's CEO George Zimmer, but instead of previous efforts where Zimmer just waxes lyrical about how "you're going to like the way you look, I guarantee it," this time they've decided to fre … Read More […]
[…] You’re going to like being slaughtered on the Western Front, I guarantee it. « Culturally Discomb… – Men’s Warehouse ad campaign, really??? […]
You’re comment on my blog led me here. I liked the Men’s Warehouse article (and general British humor). Thanks for the laughs.
Also, I blog rolled you.
Thanks Alexander. Hope you find future posts entertaining.
If the ‘creatives’ had taken the time to read the portion of Harry Patch’s statement you posted here, they wouldn’t have even considered,/em> using WW1 as a backdrop to advertise cheap suits. But there again, it probably would’ve gone over their heads and they’d have gone ahead anyway – the muppets.
You can always rely on Radiohead to do it right. That was a lovely tribute. Thanks for putting it up.
Oh, just one more thing, as Columbo would say. Well done for making freshly pressed!
Bugger! I got the italics HTML coding wrong! I walk away in shame…
Thanks Pie. It’s a bit weird, the one time I really start to let go with the “F” bombs I make freshly pressed. I thought bad language was a no no for getting on freshly pressed. I was going to point it out in the forum and then thought it was best to stay schtum.
This is the best/funniest thing I’ve ever read. Marriage?
Love to, wife might not be too happy about it though.
haha, why not invite her along too! Let’s really shake up American society!
Also, I thought I’d point out that they do obviously think that their customers are stupid, not only do they think they might not know the difference between a trench and a shop, but might get confused about what to do with something you buy from a ‘warehouse’ and thought they might make it clear by re-naming it a ‘wearhouse.’ Just to cut down on confusion and all.
Writing from America –
Very well done. Someone made a comment about what schools are teaching with regard to WWI. It’s very true that most curriculum here (at least that which I’ve experienced) doesn’t deal heavily with that time period. We learn about Henry Ford and his assembly line in class, but rarely does anyone talk about his corporate ethics. We learn about the Great Depression, and are led to think that it was solely an American problem. World War II is portrayed as having taken place only in places in which the US fought successfully. World War One, on the other hand, is portrayed to have given us the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Red Baron. Oh, and machine guns. The tragedy of it, the global impact, and the massive series of events leading up to the conflict, are either rushed through or ignored completely. The general public just doesn’t know what went on during the war. The information is there, of course, should someone take an interest, via the Internet or public library. The trouble is getting people to wake and realize that their privilege came from somewhere. Or that there are centuries of human history behind each individual to teach him or her what not to do.
It bugs me too, and I’m part of it.
Thanks for your thoughtful response, mclarennd.
Wow. Ok, first, you’re completely right, but you know that already. Second, I really dig your writing style. Very caustic in a charming sort of way. I will definitely be checking back on Culturally Discombobulated to see what you come up with next.
Thanks hurricaneally. Really, thanks. Your comment about my writing style really has made my day. Cheers.
I hope you got paid for this. I feel like billing somebody for reading it.
You managed to use two of the still forbidden-on-TV words and to not say anything that matters.
Say it isn’t so, Mavis? You’re bang on the demographic I was aiming for.
When men die they call out for their mothers, when women die they call out for their children. As a real, live combat veteran from the Viet Nam conflict (as an MP my KIA record of other Americans considerably outweighed my list of “enemy,” whatever that means, like it was dodgeball or something), I am always bemused that civvies can experience miscarriages, car wrecks, amputations, and deaths in the family, both intentional and not, yet see war as having dramatic potential.
It doesn’t, okay? Anymore than a car wreck does. Everything’s fine, you’re bored to death 90% of the time then the other 10% is sheer madness beyond madness, like Cthulhu was your blind date or something. Worse, you eventually even get bored with that.
There is no limit to the abominations the public will visit on serving and former serving persons of all genders and races and backgrounds. This is perfectly human. No one wants to sit next to someone on a bus or in a car whom you know has killed lots of other human beings (well, would you?), they don’t like being reminded that everyone in Hampstead or Belgravia can play with Kitty and Baby on the living room carpet in perfect safety because some working class POS (that’s how they are treated and though of now, don’t lie to me) is getting his arse shot off 10,000 miles away to make communal safety all possible for them.
If it is any consolation, none of what TV advertisers do make any sense, nor has it ever. If you do your reading on the subject, no one is quite sure if it works at all, if ever. Helps to know where to go to get something, right? That is about it. how does advertising influence human desire to buy something?
Surprise. It doesn’t. The advertising business, to me, is just a sort of sinecure to park artists and writers in a corner like logs for the fireplace so that they don’t create trouble by coming up with real dramatic and artistic ideas that make people love their lives and their neighbors and make war impossible and all that other drippy, gooey liberal twaddle no one really believes in.
Might be good fun to round up some real, live combat vets fresh back from Dekadekastan with a touch of PTSD to provide the people who made this ad with a free home demonstration of how an SA-80 works.
Just an idea. Let’s pitch it to Saatchi and Saatchi! Jolly good fun, wot?
You want to sort out how Americans felt about WW I written back in the days when we Yanks were proud of our literary heritage instead of blacklisting our writers or forcing them into writing puerile leftist and/or rightist twaddle to address “market demand” as determined by–Surprise!–jealous advertising dimbulbs, check out John dos Passos’ “Soldiers Three” series and the trilogy “USA” (“The Big Money” is the best volume of the three). Google Belleau Wood and Chateau Thierry, too, if you’re a military history buff.
Thanks for this comment.
No, I’ve not read any John dos Passos. Always meant to get round to reading USA your post has given me the incentive to do so.
Let me tell you this. Most Americans don’t take anything seriously. They don’t even know this is a historical pun. All they know is it looks like a war and they don’t even know what WWI is about. I’ve seen many Americans laughing at this commercial because it’s random. Americans like to fill their minds with random crap nowadays that just make people do stupid things. Americans like to watch people make full of themselves. Just take a look at our television. I did an article on that myself….http://soratothamaxanimejournal.com. People in US country don’t even care about history. When it is taught in schools, students are looking at the clock for it to be over-with, and most people don’t even remember what war trench warfare took place in. History is not very important to Americans, except during national holidays.
Americans get fed worse commercials, like this.
Americans enjoy a good punch in the face, they enjoy random moments, and they enjoy idiots who ignore serious situations. That’s the sad reality of our nation. I see a lot of Americans hate it on here, but sadly about 50% of our population won’t give a crap to care. It’s a commercial, get over it, is the main motto…
Hey you should see the commercials during Superbowl season. That’s the time when the most outrageous commercials are aired on television…
An interesting insight into something that most people would probably just pass off with a shrug of the shoulders. I think the ad points out a couple problems in American (and generally western) society today: Americans have become so inundated with graphic violence that the horrors of the Great War no longer have any meaning (If they ever had any meaning for Americans). WWII or Vietnam would anger too many who remember these wars, and the Civil War is a funny situation. It would insult the people in the north-eastern states, and in the west it would have no meaning. Personally, if they wanted to convey the idea of “a place where you can find macho men” without offending anyone, I wonder that they didn’t use a medieval battle scene with knights in armour. The WWI uniforms were probably cheaper to rent.
The second point is that we’ve lost our imaginations. The Men From Madison Avenue are no longer able to come up with anything clever – after 50 years of t.v. advertising we’ve run out of new ideas. But the advertisers still push for something new. So let’s take a putty knife to these barrels and see what we can scrape up.
[…] The latest Men's Wearhouse* advertisement just flashed across my TV screen, and maybe it's because I'm British, but I found it to be a real "what the fuck" moment. Like all Men's Wearhouse ads it features the company's CEO George Zimmer, but instead of previous efforts where Zimmer just waxes lyrical about how "you're going to like the way you look, I guarantee it," this time they've decided to fre … Read More […]
I was born in the US and attended a high school where history was compulsory every year. I studied WW1, but it had no emotional context. My parents’ generation were directly affected by WW2 (I was born in 1951) and the cultural centre of the little town where I lived was the VFW (veterens of foreign wars) club. Many of my cohort of students had fathers who had fought in the East or Europe – so that war seemed very real to me.
I moved to the UK at the end of the 1960s, studied for a degree and stayed here.
I travel back and forth still have relatives in the US. Through marriage I have relatives in a few European countries, so I travel on the ‘continent’. From a European prospective, WW1 has more emotional resonance even today, because there are so many war memorials with long lists of names. The War Graves Commission has done a splendid job of keeping grave stones clean and cemeteries maintained – so those long, long rows of headstones are visible. All this makes it much easier to understnad the sadness of the loss of life, even if the cause of the war is forgotten. (That’s if anybody understood in the 1st place).
Funny thing – whenever my son (or his circle of friends) goes to the US, they buy a suit from Men’s Wearhouse. This is not because any of them have seen the TV ads, but because one of them bought a suit there purely by chance and really liked the ‘in store’ service. Although now the pound/ dollar ratio is not as good they may change their shopping habits.
Thanks for commenting dressingmyself. Hope you stick around here, I’m doing the reverse of what you did in the late 60s and this blog is about that experience. Hope you find something of interest here.
Might be good fun to round up some real, live combat vets fresh back from Dekadekastan with a touch of PTSD to provide the people who made this ad with a free home demonstration of how an SA-80 works.
I saw this commercial for the first time last evening and almost fell out of my chair. Good grief, what were they thinking?? I am SO gratified to see that other people have responded with the same revulsion as I did. I was afraid I’d be out here alone.
I was shocked and offended by this commercial. I have written to Menswearhouse to complain. I am not a Brit. This commerical offends all men and women in uniform,from all countries, from the great war until today. It is a shameless exploitation to sell suits.
Hi Rosemary, thanks for your comment. Would be interested to hear what sort of response you get from the company, if any.
[…] 2010/06/15 a no-illusions-about-himself Brit’ pithy rant on ads’ value perversions, Euro vs Am attitudes t/d WWI – 90+ comments as of June 21. == youre-going-to-like-being-slaughtered-on-the-western-front-i-guarantee-it […]
I’m an American and an educator who not only has ancestors who fought in the Great War, but I manage a website that brings letters from the front to life more than 90 years after they were first written.
When I saw this ad, I was at first fascinated to see a depiction of WWI combat involving American troops, however brief and contrived. After that, I was both appalled and puzzled that anyone would have thought this random sketch to be an effective marketing ploy. Still can’t figure out what the message is supposed to be.
That said, it clearly is aimed at a U.S. audience because Americans truly have no real idea about the events of the Great War (including notable American involvement) or what impacts those events still have on the world today. Surveys of history in schools seem to cover the Civil War and then treat the Great War as a mere speed bump on the way to the Great Depression and World War II. Too bad, since it took what I call the Most Gallant Generation to build the foundation for what is popularly called the Greatest Generation. To me, there is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing neglected World War I memorials in America.
Thank you, Soldier’s Mail for your comment. While my original post was, to a large extent, a snarky rant against Men’s Wearhouse, I have been heartened by the response in the comments sections from Americans who have clearly not forgotten the sacrifice of those who fought in the Great War.
I enjoyed lookng through your webiste and will certainly return there. For anyone reading this, who is interested in Soldier’s Mail website it can be found at http://worldwar1letters.wordpress.com Definitely worth checking out.
[…] surprised myself how angry that advert made me at the time. You can, if you wish, read the rant here, though the commerical I railed against now appears to have disappeared entirely from the […]