On one hand, Old Navy ticks off insane Christianists by donates part of their Pride t-shirt sales to The Trevor Project. On the other, they have this weirdly homophobic and classist commercial telling dudes to stop wearing long hair, eye shadow, and furs—like Johnny Weir—and start dressing like guys (in their clothes of course). Um, they know the flip flop selection is way better in the women’s section, right?
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Old Navy Would Prefer All Guys Avoid Faggy Clothing
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Chico
I’m more irked by the Ad’s statement of depressing individuality, enforcing the notion that since we are all sheep we should dress alike! Bad Old Navy, Bad! Still… I want that shirt!!! And where can I get Super Tool under-roos!!! ;P
J.
I wonder what ‘dress like a man’ means.
Michael
Hmmm…
A major corporation decides to support the LGBT community by selling pride t-shirts and what does Queerty do???
You guys give the LGBT community one hell of a bad name.
Stephen
Bad Old Navy, Bad! I bought Old Navy V-necks to look more Andro. That video looks more like 70’s rocker attire than anything gay fashion related.
QJ201
…because you can get your faggy clothing at their sister brand, the Gap.
MikeE
Kind of odd coming from a company that sells “capri” pants for men…. I mean, come on, how faggy can you get? Every Old navy commercial I see with guys’ clothing looks like an ad for some gay shop.
Gigi Gee
@Michael: Queerty gave Old Navy a bad name. How is that?
paul f
…and we need MORE longhairs not more buzzy shaved clones.
Adam
People are so uptight, I thought the man holding a goat was rather funny.
Derek T
i don’t think this is homophobic. i don’t think the implication is that these guys are gay.
i think it’s meant to appeal to guys who think high-end “couture” fashion is stupid. which it is. and wearing fur hats and sitting on couches looks dumb if you stop to think about it. which it does.
i don’t see this as homophobic. sorry.
richg813
I agree completely with Derek T. This is not homophobic at all.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
I never shop at Old Navy–I can’t justify spending $15 on a shirt that was made in India, for 9 cents.
Rocky
@Derek T: I totally agree. I’m glad someone is thinking before reacting on here.
Rocky
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: Not trying to be funny but then where do you get your clothes, because it seems like most of the clothes sold in the USA now are manufactured that way?
Paul
I don’t think it was intentionally homophobic. Derek T suggests that the ads message is that high end fashion is “stupid.” I too think that is what they were going for. I just feel they chose a very poor catchphrase: “Dress like a guy…not that guy”. So does wearing high end clothing mean your not dressing like a “guy” and that there is something wrong with you? And if you’re not dressing like a “guy,” what are you dressing like? A girl? This is why I think the ad comes across as bigoted because of the statement “Dress like a guy…not that guy.” I feel the ad somewhat implies that there is something wrong with dressing a bit effeminately and that a person has to wear cargo pants, striped polo shirts, and flip flops to be considered a “guy.”
Josh
I don’t see homophobic at all, I do see an attack on this new hipster way of dressing that has devoured so many hot guys and turned them into overdone douches, clearly the end of the commercial with the mistaken woman’s hands being his own addresses a wave of men more obsessed with themselves than with find someone, its an attack on vanity, oh wait i guess it is homophobic, nevermind
BTW-before someone jumps down my throat, i know all gays aren’t vain to that level but let’s be real for a sec, and for those that don’t “that guy” is slang for pointing out douches
ElectricHarpsichord
I feel that it’s less homophobic and more bigoted towards people viewed as gender-non-conforming. Which adds a layer of transphobia, as many gender-variant people prefer to dress however they please.
Brent
Well fuck you, Old Navy. You made a fortune from gays through your Gap and Banana Republic lines. And this is how you thank us. Your quality has always been shit, and now I have yet another reason not to buy your third world sweat shop rags.
Cary Hartline
Who shops at Old Navy anyways?
JAW
Homophobic???…. NOT!!
HomoErotic???… OH YEAH!!!
HOT Guy… I hope he never puts on Old Navy!
Not a Fashonista
I would have to agree… wearing many of the products in the commercial… yeah you do look like a tool!! Just saying! Then again, I think that the uniforms ( I mean) clothes bought at many of the chain department stores you look like a super tool.. That includes GAP, Old Navy, Abercrombie and Fitch etc.
I’m no hipster, but I shop at a second hand store where ALL the proceeds go towards AIDS research. I have been over going to the mall and appearing as a drone for about 12 years now.
It’s about your own style, and unfortunately it hard to have that when one is all about wearing what is at the malls.
🙂
justnow
This could have been gay men themselves for all we know
Hermes3X
@Derek T,
ALL slams against feminine men are a slam against gay and gender non-conformity. ‘Femmy dude’ has always implied gay. Sissy always implies gay, as in Sissy Boy Experiment. I don’t write the ‘rules’ I’m just reporting them. To suggest otherwise means you have your head in the sand or up a darker place.
When corporations like Old Navy tell us there is only one way for a man to dress, it robs all of us of individuality and expression. It also makes for fewer socially acceptable ways for a man to be a man. The spectrum of ‘manhood’ or being a ‘man’ is growing narrower and narrower because of ads like this. Kids have fewer acceptable choices now than they did even 40 years ago. The clinker in this ad did not read “Butch it up at Old Navy” it reads “dress like a guy”. Suggesting that these models aren’t ‘guys’. The ad is anti-gay, trans-phobic and ultimately it is misogynistic, because THE WORST, MOST ABHORRENT AND EVIL thing that any MAN can do is dress like a WOMAN in any way, shape or form.
It seems that Old Navy is worried about becoming a “gay store” after selling pride Ts in a couple of their locals (an obvious dig to their competitors, Urban Outfitters. And how much did they donate to Trevor compared to all the free publicity?) It’s just like a straight bar is worried about becoming a “gay bar” if a couple of men hold hands in their establishment.
JAW
@Hermes3X: You are waaaaay of the mark with your comments.
First… Most Gay Men are tired of hearing about fem and gender non conforming. Most of us do not want to be perceived as fem. I conform to who I AM, not to what the gender nonconforming queers want me to be. I do not conform to what the straight community want me to be either.
Please stop lumping all Gay men with gender non conforming people… you folks can do your own thing. 40 years ago you would not have been able to. 40 years ago people all had to conform to local standards, that is why all the hippies went to SF. 40 years ago 2 guys or girls could not go to the prom together. 40 years ago most LGB people were in hiding. Didi you notice that I did not add the T to LGB? 40 years ago there were were no open Trans people. Kids today have a TON more choices then they did 40 years ago… Hell 40 years ago there were no Hot Topic stores in the mall… just places like Gap
The ad is fun… it makes fun of guys that dress outrageously. There are a lot of straight guys, men of color, skater kids etc that should be pissed off if you are too. The tag line… “Dress like a guy… not that guy” is showing what Old Navy sells compared to the designer clothes.
This ad was planned, filmed etc long before the Gay T’s came out. Old Navy is not afraid of being a “gay store.” Indeed many straight guys look to mainstream Gay guys for tips on how to dress.
Sorry but I do not agree with your statement… “THE WORST, MOST ABHORRENT AND EVIL thing that any MAN can do is dress like a WOMAN in any way, shape or form.”
oh wait… I think you were trying to suggest that statement was in jest… LOL see how easy it is to misquote someone
Hermes3X
@JAW: You sir, are waaaaay of the mark with your comments.
First of all, Most gay men are tired of hearing about equal marriage, aids prevention and just about anything on the gay agenda. Because most are ‘tired’ doesn’t mean that the topic has lost all merit. Sorry, but difficult topics do not have a shelf life unless you are trying to sell tap beer or t-shirts. Gay rights is not an opportunity for popularity poles or marketing research to decide who should and shouldn’t have their rights protected.
Sorry, but like I said, I don’t write the ‘rules’ I just report them. Folks like you seem to believe that all of the bigots in the world will just go away if we ignore them, or magically change. The truth of this kind of bigotry is that they lump us all together into the same group: The Tom of Finn clones and the radical faeries, the Fruit Flies and the Motorcycle Dykes. Just because you may pass, and might try to distance yourself from the rest, you still belong with the same lump that they, not I, put you into.
jessi
The funny part about the video is that when it says “Dress like a guy”, “Tool” still remains on the screen. Then is says “Not that guy” over Tool. You could take it as meaning that he isn’t a “Tool”, but men who dress like guys are.
JAW
@Hermes3X: Sorry you feel that way… Again I do not agree with you. I am not gender non conforming (what letters to the LGBTQQ sign do we add for it??)
You made a statement that said that kids today have fewer choices then they had 40 years ago… your reporting is wrong… my list disproved that. There were no gender questioning or gender non conforming kids back then, Hell the terms were not even coined till a few years ago.
Sorry to say… you are correct… bigots will always be around. The far right does not take claim to all the narrow minded bigots, The Far Left is also loaded with them. Sadly I see you as one of the narrow minded people on the far left. Perhaps you should chill a bit and realise that the entire world is not out to get you. Open up your mind to other peoples ideas. We do not all live life like you do.
Xanderer
You know, I’ve always been a bit miffed at lack of options in male attire. We don’t get thousands of options in cut and color and pattern. So this commercial is guilty of trying to get people to dress in gender conforming clothes. Nothing says you have to “be” a guy to “dress like a guy” though. I’m sure there are a few butch lesbians out there who could rock the clothes at old navy just fine.
As far as the guy in the commercial goes? His clothes would look much better on my floor.