Crispin Porter & Bogusky: The Penis Branding Company

Seth Stevenson at Slate has a pretty awesome slam against the ad agency that brought you the creepy Burger King and the “man food” ads.

What I really like about the article is that he manages to notice a not-too-subtle trend in all of the ads coming from the same ad agency: no matter the product, it’s only for dicks. (Literal and figurative).

Crispin also appears to have a strange obsession with dictating the bounds of male identity. In the "Un-pimp Your Ride" spots for VW, a somewhat cruel protagonist ridicules young men who dare to seek self-expression through the art of modifying their cars. In the "Making Things Right" campaign for Haggar, two middle-aged guys gruffly rule their suburban neighborhood—advocating physical force against any young men who dare to wear earrings, or listen to rap music, or date your daughter. And then there's that Man Law campaign for Miller, where the concept achieves its most literal form.

Which makes me think there’s an awesome Saturday Night Live sketch in there somewhere when Cripin Porter & Bogusky via for the Tampax tampon campaign. I can just picture them having young women brag about having the heaviest menstrual period. “Mine is way heavier than yours.”