April 27, 2005: Women and some men in Paris, Marseille and Aix-en-Provence were given a treat last month when the underwear maker Hom launched an eye-popping new advertising campaign for its 3001 line, which the company calls the first collection of “lingerie for men.” This isn’t the first time we’ve seen hunky, near-naked men on French billboards, but it is the first time we’ve seen hunky, near-naked men wearing lacy underpants, and it’s so new that there is something shocking about it. In all three ads, the well-oiled model, pictured only from the shoulders to the knees, is pulling off a T-shirt that matches his underpants, which come in fire-engine red, red and white (a frontal view, with the well-molded underpants leaving little to the imagination) and the lacy ensemble in “khaki.” An article in the left-wing daily newspaper Libération noted that some men felt objectified by the ads and held that no straight man would wear lacy underwear unless he was drunk or clowning around. One blogger derided the campaign as “metrosexual pollution” that could harm a man’s virility.
Hom, of course, was pleased with all the attention. Stocks of the less-controversial red model sold out only a week after the ad campaign was launched.
See the Hom Web site for a free slide show of gorgeous musclemen in lace, thongs and other men’s lingerie: http://www.hom.fr/

© 2005 Paris Update