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Much like habeas corpus, Miller Lite’s Man Laws have been suspended. Despite their perceived popularity amongst crotch-scratchers everywhere, the campaign did nothing for Miller’s sales figures. Thus ends the reign of Patriarch Burt Reynolds I.

While intended to be funny, the Miller spots unequivocally endorse a world where men should be “anti-fruit” and own whatever they poke. The campaign sells the same message companies have been pitching to guys for years, which can be summed up like this:

GRRR.

*Yawn.* You ask me, that pitch kinda falls on dear ears nowadays. Every truck, body spray, cigarette, athletic equipment, electronics, weed killer, and home improvement company in America has beaten guys over the head with the message that “real men use [insert brand].” I don’t think it works very well anymore.

If you want to make a pitch, try this instead:

GRRR.

We’re not yet to the point where too many products intended for men can be effectively advertised without any nod to masculinity, but that doesn’t mean the nod has to be performed earnestly. In fact, it can be done ironically, giving men the postmodern joy of dabbling their toe in something while laughing at those who swim in it.

Take, for example, the new Old Spice spot featuring Bruce Campbell:

This ad’s the Ricky Bobby of masculine sales pitches. Taken at face value, its character and attitudes are offensive, but you don’t have to look too hard to realize the ad makes fun of everything it supposedly endorses. From the absurd sailboat picture to the telepathically-induced fire to the use of Bruce Campbell himself, the whole piece is a send-up of macho advertising. Put another way, Old Spice is asking men to identify with a campaign laughing at ads like the Man laws.

Through the lens of feminism, the ad’s probably far from perfect, but it does represent progress. It’s becoming increasingly socially acceptable — and apparently profitable — to send up patriarchal horsepucky, even to men.

Smells good to me.