Carhartt Enlists World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner For Brand's Spring Campaign

Work-wear apparel brand Carhartt yesterday announced that Giants P Madison Bumgarner will be featured in the company's national spring marketing campaign, set to launch April 5th. The national campaign will run across multiple media platforms including TV, digital, mobile and retail stores. The campaign shows Bumgarner working at his family ranch in North Carolina, chopping down trees, setting a fence post and loading lumber (Carhartt). MARKETING DAILY’s Tanya Gazdik Irwin notes the production crew “simply followed Bumgarner around his home doing chores to get footage for the spot, which also features men in other professions who wear Carhartt.” The 60-second ad shows a “quick cut of a man peddling a stationary bike furiously before cutting back to ‘real’ men getting a ‘real’ workout, including Bumgarner cutting down a tree and casually walking away as it falls.” The images are accompanied with a voiceover that says, “Men who wear Carhartt don’t need to take spin classes.” Irwin notes Carhartt “has always featured real people doing real work in its marketing efforts.” Bumgarner “could return in the future” for other campaigns (MEDIAPOST.com, 3/24). USA TODAY’s Ted Berg wrote it is "hard not to come away from the commercial shoot with the notion that someone advised Bumgarner to do some endorsements after his spectacular postseason, and he looked down at the logo on his shirt and chose Carhartt." It was important to Bumgarner that the spot "depicts the actual work he’s doing on the ranch, not a glamorized cinematic interpretation” (USATODAY.com, 3/23).