Retro Penis Fashions

The above advertisement came out in 1976 featuring male sports stars posing in untraditional appearing men's undergarments.  Marketing men figured that the best way to convince everyday guys that wearing bright red, shocking yellow or even fish net underwear was 'cool and masculine' was to feature jock stars (men like Steve Garvey, Vic Hadfield, Lou Brock, Fred Dryer, Craig Morton, Terry Metcalf, Ed Marinaro, and Jim McMillian) wearing them in full-color advertisements.  Compared to today's underwear ads, these look tame.  But back then the ads were noticed.  They were collected.  No doubt lots of people did lots of things while looking at the men in their shorts.  Today, a vintage Jockey (good-condition) ad page sells somewhere between $7 - $15.

 

But in addition to different colors, there were also fresh new styles of shorts in comparison to the traditional brief or boxer.  Thigh-high cut shorts, pouches without a fly, and bikinis (also known in slang as banana hammocks) were pushed. The new phrase for these products became "men's fashion underwear" and the promotions worked well with mainstream men--well sorta.  Many guys went for the basic primary colors and prints (compared to their traditional white shorts), but unlike women, many men refused to put fashion over comfort, especially when it came to trying to fit all of their man junk into skimpy bikini pouches that didn't allow much room for moving or expansion throughout a busy day.   In the 1980s a research group for one advertising agency discovered that men, aged over 24 in their focus group, viewed the name "bikini" as having a feminine connotation to it...something that was easily fixed in future years.  Please stay tuned for part two.