Mr. Leggs Slacks

I have chosen an advertisement for Mr. Leggs slacks, a brand of pants whose “Noble styling is sure to soothe the savage heart.” To illustrate this claim there is a feisty looking woman lying on the floor with her head facing forward, the rest of her body is that of a tiger-skin rug spread out of the floor. A dapper looking man wearing Mr. Leggs slacks is standing over the tiger-rug woman with his foot placed on her head. The man’s pose is that of a victorious hunter who has successfully taken down his prey. The text helps to validate this idea by saying “Though she was a tiger lady, our hero didn’t have to fire a shot to floor her. After one look at his Mr. Leggs slacks, she was ready to have him walk all over her.”

I believe the target audience is single, white heterosexual males. The claim that you could control a woman by wearing Mr. Leggs slacks would be an attractive idea to men who have not gotten married yet. According to this ad you would become more masculine and desirable by wearing these pants, and women would be all too willing to let you walk all over them.

This ad objectifies young, single, white women. The woman is described as being wild and in need of being tamed. It also makes us out to be very shallow by saying we would let a man treat us like a door mat just because he is wearing attractive looking pants.

The way this advertisement states that you would become a he-man by wearing these slacks would be sure to attract attention from the target demographic. Most men are very attached to their ego’s and the subtle way the text implies that you are less than a man if you don’t have women falling all over you would be seen as a threat. It is actually a very interesting sales tactic.