Jim Palmer’s underwear ads from the ’80s make us want to pitch a perfect game
The Baltimore Orioles great was Jockey's primary pitchman in the 1980s.
In a classic underwear ad, Baltimore Orioles great Jim Palmer says wearing Jockeys is like pitching a perfect game.
That’s quite a coincidence, because seeing the Hall of Fame hurler wear his favorite briefs makes many gay guys pitch something else!
Palmer, one of the most iconic right-handers in MLB history, was Jockey’s star pitch man in the late ’70s and ’80s. Tanned and handsome, it’s easy to see why the underwear company targeted the three-time Cy Young Award winner.
He just screams “All-American jock.”
“It’s time to reach perfection, like pitching a perfect game,” Palmer says at the top of the spot. “But Jockey brand underwear really comes close. And real quality means real value. I always wear Jockey brand.”
Sold!
While it’s not uncommon for pro baseball players to moonlight as underwear models, Palmer might be the most successful. He even dedicates a whole section of his autobiography to his work in front of the camera.
Bill James, the statistical savant who spearheaded MLB’s analytics movement, didn’t need fancy metrics to quantify Palmer’s attributes.
Instead, James simply called the six-time All-Star the “ultimate pretty-boy.”
The moniker served Palmer well. He says he earned $3,500 from his first photo shoot, and was the only athlete who got called back for another endorsement the following year.
Soon, Palmer became the only athlete to star in Jockey campaigns.
As you can see, there really wasn’t the need for anybody else.
Jockey’s ads in the ’80s were groundbreaking. The company’s vice president of sales, Bill Herrmann, calculated that women made 75% of underwear purchases. As a result, he started catering the company’s campaigns to their eyes.
“When Jockey decided to go with a single face for the campaign, Herrmann set out to find the athlete who he thought men found most relatable and women found easiest on the eyes,” Palmer writes.
Hey, those ladies got good taste. What can we say?
Our favorite commercial features Palmer standing shirtless in the locker room, parading his underwear around. One by one, Palmer’s teammates snatch his favorite briefs, leaving him with… nothing?!
It sure looks like that, right? Gather around!
The ad makes it clear: Jocks wear Jockeys. Our favorite exchange shows Palmer handing his favorite “classic whites” to Cal Ripken Jr.
“That’s for me!” says the all-time great in a delightful Southern twang.
Please pass some over to us, too! Do we know if the 1979 Orioles need a locker room attendant?
Those bad boys may need to be hand washed…
Jockey’s branding campaigns with Palmer were so effective, they didn’t launch a new one for 20 years.
Yet, they’ve managed to remain one of the iconic male underwear brands around. It goes to show that quality is greater than quantity.
Jim Palmer’s glistening, 1980s movie star bod will always be at the forefront of our minds… especially when we’re thinking about underwear.
Or at least, what tends to happen down there!
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