14 DAY TRIAL // When the announcement came that Cristiano Ronaldo would be replacing David Beckham as the face of Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans, many fashion insiders were thrilled at the idea. Even when the first ads from the latest campaign surfaced online, some of that enthusiasm still remained. Still, at a closer look, it could very well be not only that Ronaldo can’t walk in Becks’ shoes but that he’s also trying so hard it’s almost painful to watch, as Lydia Slater says for the Daily Mail.
Keeping with the Armani tradition, all the shots from the new campaign are in black and white, but that does nothing in terms of making them less kitschy and disturbing, Slater believes. Ronaldo might be a handsome fellow with a body athletes would kill for but, when it comes to standing in front of the camera and doing his best indifferent verging on brooding pose, he fails miserably. Awkward and forced, the Armani shots are guaranteed to make women turn away from the brand, which is precisely the contrary of what happened when David Beckham was endorsing it.
“Unlike his predecessor, the poor chap is clearly no supermodel. It’s not just that he’s less naturally handsome, with a strangely prominent Adam’s apple and feminine features that contrast oddly with his rugged physique. He’s also obviously uncomfortable in front of a camera. In all the shots, Ronaldo is clearly trying his hardest to look sultry and mysterious. But the effect is pure Zoolander, a la the dumb male model of Ben Stiller’s comedy whose trademark ‘blue steel’ facial pose is hilariously over the top,” Slater argues.
Come to think of it, physically speaking, Ronaldo is fitter than Beckham, which should mean, at least in theory, that he should fare better in the campaign. He’s also prettier (yet in a masculine way), if it weren’t for those eyebrows manicured to perfection and that pout that would put even Victoria Beckham herself to shame. That is to say, Ronaldo has what it takes to take Armani to a whole new level: except the one thing that Becks has got to spare, and that is being natural with the camera.
“The trouble is that Ronaldo’s body is just too perfect. He is said to do 3,000 sit-ups a day. That must take at least an hour, and that’s before he moves on to work out all the other bits of his physique. Add to that the time that’s required to wax off every strand of body hair, and then he still has to factor in sessions at the tanning salon. Altogether, the impression is of a person who is far too in love with himself and his own appearance to waste time thinking about anyone, or anything, else.What self-respecting woman would fall for Ronaldo, whatever the size of his sixpack, when he clearly has no time to read books, go to the cinema, or develop opinions about anything apart from his football or his gym equipment?” Slater asks on a final note.
If the answer to that question is “none,” then it’s clear that Armani made a very poor judgment call when taking Cristiano Ronaldo, because chances of men being inspired to buy underwear with such a model promoting it are very slim.