Things Are Definitely Looking Up

Things Are Definitely Looking Up

I returned to the Diesel Surplus store on the Main on Monday. I wanted to find out more about our South Asian underwear models. As I looked in the window, I was surprised to see that the light-skinned doll had been knocked over by a careless shopper. I asked a sales clerk about the dolls, but all he could tell me was that Diesel had sent them for window dressing because this particular store sold Diesel briefs. He had no idea if they were part of a particular campaign. When I told him that one of the dolls was doing a headstand in the front window, he ran over, picked him up and said, "If you hadn't told me that he had blue eyes, I never would have noticed."

I wanted to ask him a few more questions about Diesel's Be Stupid campaign but then thought I should ask someone else, like you reader. Aren't there enough people in the world doing stupid things without being instructed to Be Stupid. Isn't this just as bad as the 1970s adage Let it all hang out? Too many took the maxim literally and accosted our aesthetic sensibilities for decades to come. Can you think of any other sayings, slogans or maxims that have caused us lifelong regrets?

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A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

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A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

On our way back from Fairmount Bagels, my son and I came across these two dolls at the Diesel Surplus store on St. Laurent boulevard. I took pictures because this was the first time that I had ever seen South Asian male dolls modeling underwear. I probably wouldn't have batted an eye if these dolls had been of women. When I got home, I showed the pictures to my husband, who works in advertising. He sees this as a simple advertisement for men's underwear with a weird twist.
"What do you think of the buff bodies?" I asked.
"They are selling underwear," he said.
"I just can't recall seeing any South Asian men with that body type or wearing so few clothes," I said. "What about the two different skin tones? Isn't that insulting? Don't you think that it could be suggesting that lighter skin is an ideal?"
"No," he said. "There are South Asians that have that colour of skin. I think that it was more insulting when different races were not represented at all in mainstream advertising."
"But aren't lighter skin tones the minority?" I asked.
He shrugged.
"Okay, then, what about the blue eyes?" I asked.
"The blue eyes are weird, and that's where it fails," he said.
"And both the dark- and light-skinned doll have blue eyes."

Somehow, I think that advertising types can explain their use of South Asian dolls as inclusion. But what about the blue eyes? Is this another way of promoting the impossible fair-skinned, blue-eyed beauty ideal. Or is this just another way of getting our attention through provocation? Or is it part of Diesel's Be Stupid advertising campaign? Well, someone's stupid.
You tell me reader.

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