Meet Rose Cameron, Leo Burnett Chicago’s senior vice president and planning director and um, Man Expert. Rose got the title after overseeing a global study of what men want in 2005. The report’s final word on the status quo of the male gender: “We appear to be witnessing a new experience of male insecurity and confusion.” Oh, we believe it. Rose is the go to gal for all things penises and gets in on strategy sessions for clients.
In her own words, “I just love men.” And really, who doesn’t? Cameron recently went to Hooters with The Chicago Tribune where she dissected the male psyche.
“She seizes the roll of paper towels that Hooters places at each table instead of napkins, and lowers her voice to a masculine rasp: “I’ve got these. I can be as dirty as I want to be, since my wife is always telling me I’m dirty.”
Seriously. We’re not male, but when we read the line above, even we got a little roiled up. We like Rose. Totally. We would so hang out with her. Yet, by the middle of the article something weird happens. The whole piece shifts wildly into her personal life and in a really weird way.
“Cameron is particularly interested in a man she knows as John, a promising online prospect from rural Washington state, who repairs tractors and sounds like a real cowboy hero.
“He’s just a delightful guy,” Cameron gushes, adding she had just sent him a die-cast model of a John Deere tractor, just to let him know she was thinking about him.”
And then, “- there is romantic promise in her voice this night as we leave the restaurant and head out into the parking lot. John could be something special, but Cameron says she’s going to stay guarded, at least for now. Her heart has been broken enough that she plans to proceed with caution.
It seems an unfortunate irony that Cameron, by day a leading authority on the male of the species, struggles to understand these mysterious creatures by night. As she discusses failed relationship after failed relationship, you can hear in her voice a real worry that her professional gift could also be her personal curse.
In many ways, Rose Cameron knows what men want, and she knows it’s not her.”
Oh my god! Shut up! Shut up! TMI! We’re sitting here wondering what the hell is going on here? The next few paragraphs deal with Rose’s difficulty with keeping a man. Who thought this was a good idea? Rose? The PR gal? Seriously. It almost undermines her own credibility. Yes, we can all give good advice to someone else and then, screw it up royally in our own personal lives, but heavens! TMI! TMI!
The article does swing back around to a promo piece for the agency full of findings from their study and professional accolades for Cameron. We were so relieved. They follow Cameron to a brainstorm for the new Pontiac G8. After Rose gives them two example commercials and chats with them about her four male segments: the traditional male, Archie Bunkers, metrosexuals and retrosexuals, etc.
“For the next five minutes the room continues to toss around ideas, and when the meeting wraps up, it does so with a buzz of energy and creativity. Two months later, the first ad featuring a glimpse of the G8 is finished. In the commercial, actor Matt Dillon raises the curtain with this line: “Coming this spring, the Pontiac G8 GT – the most powerful car under 30 Grand.”
You be the judge. Take a look at the spot above. Take off the advertising goggles for a second. Men – do you love it?
Oh! The end piece to this article in the Tribune magazine?
“Take John: Cameron finally concedes that relationship is going nowhere, despite her best research to figure out what makes him tick.
“Who knows, maybe he’s a 13-year-old boy or an old lady,” she says, staring out into the dark night, as the weather worsens.
“You just never know.”
Riiiiiight.