Bonds showcases undies for ‘Turtlenecks’ and ‘Crewnecks’ in latest campaign via Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Yes, you read that right, Bonds, Australia’s favourite underwear brand, is starting a national conversation about the underwear needs of men with ‘Turtlenecks’ versus men with ‘Crewnecks’ in a new campaign developed by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne.
Because while all men are born equal… some get slightly modified. To date, other underwear brands have overlooked this important point of differentiation.
But not Bonds.
As the original home of ‘very comfy undies’, no brand is better placed to offer underwear for those who retained an extra layer of epidermis and underwear for those who lost it.
Says Kelly McBride, head of marketing at Bonds: “We are always looking for new ways to innovate. The mens underwear category generally follows tried and tested conventions, so we felt it was time to shake things up. We are highlighting a truth that all men are aware of, but maybe haven’t given due consideration to when it comes to their choice of undies. We hope we’ll get on men’s radars with this cheeky message.”
Says Richard Williams, executive creative director at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne: “Approximately 20% of Australian men have crewnecks today, a big change from the 1950’s when roughly 80% of the male population had the ‘chop’. Despite ‘Team Crewneck’ being a rarer breed than ‘Team Turtleneck’, we know both teams have questions and we hope this campaign gets all men talking more freely. You’re welcome.”
So, whether you’re the proud owner of a Turtleneck or a Crewneck, head to www.bonds.com.au now and purchase the right comfy undies for you.
The campaign will run across live streaming sports app Kayo, social channels, online and in Bonds stores.
Client: Bonds
Head of Marketing: Kelly McBride
Marketing Manager: Kedda Ghazarian
Brand Manager: Amanda Varbaro
Creative Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Production company: Guilty
Producer: Jason Bryne
Director: Tony Rogers
DOP: Joey Knox
Stills Photographer: Christopher Tovo
Post Production: Finish – Sam Coates
Sound: Squeak E Clean
48 Comments
This is awesome.
Watched it once alone, then once with the office and we all loved it! HA
Made me laugh, nice one.
Took me a moment to ‘get’ it – we always called them ‘singlets’ or ‘skivvies’.
Nice one Ant & Rich!
But daym, there are some significant packages going on in that shoot! The dude with the tash! C’mon! It’s like Uluru !
I feel so alone.
Very neat.
So good. Lovely performances.
Awesome performances.
This wipes the floor with just about everything I’ve seen this year. A low bar admittedly, but thank fuck for some good-old fashioned Aussie comedy.
Well done Bonds
I love it. Nicely done Ant.
Me to my friends: ‘No, we actually do important work that helps businesses increase sales and build the economy.’
Me to the industry: ‘Yiew!!! Dick jokes!’
Much ado about a confected difference. Since the subtleties of the joke will have to be explained to 90% of the population, I suspect the congratulatory comments here come from the agency.
Once again, frat boy humour with no real point tenuously links itself to undie comfort.
My dick feel great in all types of underwear.
Oh no – a company appealing to its target audience. Heaven forbid!
This is doing what great ads should do – entertain.
If you think the link between undies and penises is tenuous, you’re an idiot.
God I love a dick joke.
Beats all the earnest brand purpose montages everyone else is churning out.
Damn straight. Sick to death of this serious purpose-driven crap.
Write a dick joke. Make people laugh. Sell undies.
My mail is that Clems haven’t won the Bonds pitch. Too bad too sad. They’ll probably be ok.
But spare a thought for Leo Burnett Melbourne. In the last week they’ve lost 7-Eleven and Bonds. And now have to watch an agency they thought they’d got rid of on Bonds do better work than they ever managed.
Wow. Spare a thought for Leo’s indeed. What an uncalled for public dressing-down. Get back in your box.
Hi I’m no longer involved in the pitch but what I really want to say to Bonds is ‘your product is crap.’ The undies start disintegrating as soon as I put them on. It was not always thus. Just improvise your product. Now.
Are crewneck and turtleneck in the vernacular for the different types of man junk? Didn’t think so! So, that’s why no one got this in my house. But please, tell yourselves this funny.
If your household can’t muster the collective brain power to decipher this incredibly shallow metaphor, then I’m not sure you’re qualified to assess what is ‘funny’ for those that can.
The alternative to slowness is that you’re sanctimonious. In which case you’re a bore, and also disqualified.
well done on more shite. and by the way those photographs look like they’ve been lit by a student in 1995 . hello its 2020 Clems , ya might wanna start using someone under the age of 50
My guess is you’re a photographer under 50 who can’t get any work because you take photos as well as you write.
What every agency wants: a client that sticks its neck out. Nice one Clems.
Imagine they made these ‘Australian’ undies for ‘Australians’ in Australia? Then just maybe then, they can claim their Australian heritage.
So the CMO used to work at Clemenger. She then went to Tennis Australia, and then awarded the Tennis Australia business to Clemenger. She then leaves Tennis, goes to Bonds, and moves the Bonds business to Clemenger.
…kinda like how the productions get awarded.
@crappp …..smells like sour balls comments – did you miss out on the job then? Can’t wait for Campaign Brief to require sledgers to put their real name on their nasty little whines.
No, I’m a creative director , since moved Overseas: I’m sick of seeing the same tired Australian suppliers get wheeled out again and again for nothing other than nepotism and budget. It’s high time Australian agencies at this level employed actual Art Buyers rather than letting suits with connections employ their washed up mates.
@crapp, when you try and light 10 people in a row, you’re going to want a fairly flat source of light. Sure you could grade these how you like, yes, they’re a pretty naturalistic grade. But these are essentially comedy ads for blokes, they don’t need to look like high fashion. My guess is you’re more interested in being on trend than actually reinforcing the idea which is bad, immature art direction. People in the real world don’t give a shit. They just take out the meaning.
My feeling is you’re the one who photographed this.
MORE MIDDLE AGE WHITE MEN MAKING AVERAGE SPOTS. BOOOORING. GET SOME DIVERSITY IN THERE CLEMS. YOUR EMBARRASSING YOURSELF.
Where does it say who made it???
So essentially this is pitch work thats been pushed into social and in- store channels ? That explains the short credit list and no creatives wanting to put their name on it. And therefore explains the production company responsible for the freebie.
Looks like a pretty diverse lineup of penis-havers aka necks to me?
Unless you’re saying that people without penises should have made this ad, in which case they wouldn’t have had the “lived experience” which is oh-so-crucial to doing things the right way?
Maybe you’re actually advocating MTF trans women should have made it? That way you potentially get the penis-having AND the non-male viewpoints. Very on-trend of you. You should take it up with the three female clients that are credited here.
Im assuming WHITE MEN meant diversity of creative team. I tend to agree that Agencies are full of middle aged white males wearing the same clothes becoming one another of a period of time. It’s a cultural phenomenon not uncommon in large Agencies that tend to have egocentric Agendas like awards that drive the culture. Perhaps its time for that culture shift to permeate Clemenger. The death star aint called the death star because of the architecture my friends.
You’re embarrassing yourself* not ‘your embarrassing yourself.’
@whitemen
You’re clearly someone who sees someone’s gender and age before their talent. I think it’s called a bigot.
Hey, if just a couple of people out there call man junk, “necks -Turtlenecks, Crewnecks etc” but no one else does, this is what’s called an “inside joke”. Inside jokes tend not to be funny.
This is the exact problem that exists within Ad Agencies. White blokes in denim, shirts and blazers making each other laugh. You reckon the Jewish community are laughing at this? Are they not Australian too? You recon Muslims are laughing at this? How about our Sudanese population? You reckon the art directors researched the multicultural norms of circumcision before making a ‘in joke’ that probably got made up over a round table in an agency to get a pitch across the line…Im a white male myself and i think this is sloppy , lazy cheap easy jokes. Not in my 50 years on this planet have I heard a joke about turtlenecks in the Aussie vernacular.
this is funny.
i’ve never head turtleneck used before BUT i got what they were referencing.
and it’s performed with restraint and understatement.
and the fact the locker room guys are all supportive of each other’s differences adds another hilariously warm level.
how can an ad, aimed at guys, that was created by guys, make people so angry?
Doesn’t make me angry at all. I can just imagine when this was pitched to the CD and the CD said: “I don’t get it – wait, are dicks referred to as necks?” And the team said, “No, but does it matter?” The CD should have said, “Well, yes it does matter!”
i didn’t know they were referred to as turtle necks – but i got it.
most blokes, who are the target, will add up it up quickly.
You’re right. Next time I’m coming up with a campaign against Female Genital Mutilation, I’ll be sure to remember your profound words here today, and immediately check my Western cultural privilege (aversion to FGM).
I’ll make sure to be a bit more sensitive to cultures that still engage in this practice for cultural or religious reasons.
I’m Jewish and think this is funny. The ad isn’t saying that having a foreskin is good or bad, just saying that whatever you have, or don’t have, there are some comfy undies for you.
Get off your soapbox.
There’s a global pandemic rn, people are dying, losing businesses and their homes, and you lot are arguing over whether a crew neck or turtleneck is a funny or not metaphor for a dick joke and insulting people based on their age. FFS. Talk about white fucken privilege. What a joke.
Simply great work all round – and the ‘necks’ thing is easy to work out – even for someone growing up an ant-eater in a neighbourhood of roundheads.
Though I have heard of todgers called ‘necks’ once or twice over the years. To whit: A policeman approaches a car with steamed up windows in a lay by late at night. He notices the car rocking imressively on its shock absorbers for a second and then abruptly raps on the driver’s side window. The window cracks open an inch and a sweaty young man’s face peers out. ‘Whatchoo, up to then lad?’ Say the copper. ‘We’re only necking, officer!’ Says the panting young chap. ‘Well, put your neck back in your pants and fuck off.’ Says PC Plod.
You’re welcome.