From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli

HAVE we taken leave of our senses? The international hoo-hah surrounding the American Eagle jeans television commercial is too ridiculous. The object of the campaign was to sell jeans — nothing more, nor less.

It has nothing to do with eugenics and Nazi propaganda, and everything to do with increasing the profit margin. Simplistically, that is how advertising works.

The American Eagle jeans campaign features the American actress and producer, Sydney Sweeney. Illogically, one critic declared: “A blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white woman is talking about her genes. Like, that is Nazi propaganda.” However, despite the backlash, polling data suggests most Americans are more sensibly pragmatic. The Economist/YouGov survey found only 12% of respondents deemed the campaign offensive. Of those polled, 39% found the concept clever; 40% deemed it neither offensive nor clever, while 8% remained undecided. In three days the campaign was viewed 400-million times.

Consequently, Sweeney’s advertisements has increased the brand’s market value by over $200-million. The campaign’s clever word-play — genes/jeans — highlights Sweeney’s blue eyes and blonde hair. The script says: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour.” Adding: “My jeans are blue.” Get it?

Patently, the Eagle jeans campaign resonates. Everyone is talking — and buying! In the same way, The Old Spice campaign, featuring the absurdly handsome Isiah Mustafa, and blatantly displaying his Adonis qualities, while flirting provocatively with the ladies and brazenly poking fun at ornamentally-challenged white men, was so brilliant — so innovative in every production aspect, in one-month sales increased by 107%. It saved the brand! No-one found fault.

Sean Ashby owns the Sydney based Australian company, AussieBum. He manufactures and sells internationally celebrated men’s jocks; however, and despite our long-standing association, I plan to instigate legal action in the International Court of Justice in the Hague, for misleading advertising, by imagination — or is it delusion?

Ignoring incontrovertible proof to the contrary, I bought a gross (144) of his black jocks imagining I would, if I wore them, be instantaneously and permanently transmogrified — I would look exactly like the model in the picture — an object of desire! Even with the wearing of two-pairs at the same nothing has transpired. I look nothing like the model. I am still a middle-aged — plus GST — olive-ish, slightly-over-weight, European gentleman, pining for my days of yore! I am not discouraged by the colour and appearance of the model — just wistful!!

Some years ago, Rocchiccioli Casting was responsible for casting hundreds of television commercials and print advertisements. Often, during the advertising agency casting-brief they stipulated hair-colour — often blonde, but never once was there mention of Hitler, Nazi-propaganda, or eugenics. There was one objective, and the banter was predictable: “We need something which will set us apart from the competition and sell the product.” It is not splitting the atom.

The sooner we banish wokeism — the better. It serves only to divide. We are becoming a mean-spirited, hypercritical, disrespectful, disagreeable, hostile society. In the final analysis we have only each other.

The peace of the world is in a parlous state; wars continue to rage; innocents are dying, and news outlets are pampering to wokeism and bombarding us with puerile, click-bait stories. It is time to stop and smell the roses; to enjoy what we have; and to end the debilitating disapproval.