Based on our admittedly limited knowledge, PACT is the American Apparel of underwear. The Boulder-based company uses only organic cotton (which its CEO calls “the world’s dirtiest crop“), works with partners that stick to Fair Trade standards, and has its headquarters in the U.S.A.
This is all very admirable and makes us wonder how the business model works on a small scale. But PACT’s first(?) official ad, created by “audience-winning content company” Denizen, seeks to gain attention in a more traditional and explicit way: with poop jokes.
It’s like someone took “Ship My Pants” and removed all of the nuance from that classically understated effort. Think Calvin Klein ads minus the intestinal control.
OK, on that last part. Just … yeah. Whew.
But there’s a point to all this literal shit!
Seems PACT wanted to express its key selling point (that the rest of the fashion industry is awful and full of whatever) in the most direct, burn-it-all-down way possible.
Denizen co-founder Joel Jensen is an Upright Citizens Brigade alumni, which maybe explains his “throw shit and see what sticks to your underwear” style. He says, “PACT engaged us to expose the dark side of the fashion industry in a funny way – the only logical place to go was a fart joke. The idea was based around a problem most of us have encountered at some point in our lives, skidmarks. We came back with a concept for the video that had all of us on the floor laughing. Our reaction was both delight and disgust, but we knew right away that we had to greenlight the idea.”
He says that Denizen “wanted to subvert the tropes of the fashion industry,” adding, “doing it in an immature way felt like the right way to counter and call out the self-absorbed way the fashion industry talks about itself.”
Hard to disagree with that. But are those the company’s own products in the ad? And does the fashion industry’s snooty attitude really have anything to do with the quality of its products, or is it just a class thing hinting at the REAL appeal of overpriced clothing … proving that you have the impeccable taste that comes with a lot of money and the leisure time to spend it appropriately?
Anyway, this was real gross, dudes.