What are we on now, Lad 2.0? Lad 3.0? Surely, we’re not already on the fourth iteration of lad? It’s so hard to know. But then: if anyone knows what the state of modern man is in this sad, chaotic, post-Dapper Laughs world, it’s Jacamo, the broader gentleman’s catalogue of choice.
Previously, Jacamo adverts were a simple affair: Britain’s favourite barrel-for-a-chest cricketer Freddie Flintoff would walk into shot wearing a lumberjack shirt and say something northern and straightforward that appealed to the core Jacamo audience, like: “See? Liking clothes in’t just for poofs!” But now Jacamo is aiming for the average Joe, and so we find our hero, an average Joe, playing ping pong, going to gigs in slow motion, and standing on a roof in a parka while the red sun rises.
This is where your modern man is, Britain! He’s stuck on a roof in a big coat after someone shut the fire door on him! He’s leaning on someone else’s motorbike trying to get 3G reception! He’s lost and alone in a weary world! This is what men do, now, and this is what men aspire to be: they’re boxing in a blue-lit gym; they’re giggling near women while wearing aggressively patterned T-shirts; they’re wearing double denim at curiously sweat-free gigs; they’re camping with the #lads; eating kebabs with the #lads; patting shoulders; rolling sleeves up; standing on roofs. Is the modern man in crisis? By the looks of this Jacamo advert: enormously.
But, if nothing else, he’s safe in the knowledge that, when the world is turning against him, he’ll still be able to buy a pair of 6XL jean-shorts.
