A Bear in Khakis: Grylls models 'Dockers' pants in new Campaign

We have covered his namesake “Ultimate Knife” by Gerber and interviewed him on topics as gritty and core as survivalism and rabbit snares. He is a poster boy for Craghoppers Ltd., a British brand that sells slick outdoors and technical clothing. Now, this week it was announced that Bear Grylls, he of “Man vs. Wild” television fame, is marketing a line of pants perhaps best known for their place in cubicle farms and conference rooms of the American workplace.

Dockers, the self-proclaimed “world’s most authoritative khaki resource,” has a new pants model, the Alpha Khaki. They are a cotton pant marketed as strictly not “cubicle wear.” (They have a slim fit, a heavier weight fabric, and stronger stitching, the company cites.)

Bear got involved in a photo shoot recently in the “wilds” of Manhattan. Dockers had him photographed wearing the pants in Central Park for something it calls the “Wear The Pants” ad campaign. He hiked through grass and balanced on a boulder to model the pants for celebrity lens-man Koto Bolofo.

Readers, what’s your take? I am hearing cries of “sellout” already from the ranks. But does it matter that Bear, an outdoorsy dude and a TV star, put on some casual pants for an ad campaign? After all, sports personalities do this all the time. Would you blink if an NBA player or a quarterback from the NFL starred in a Dockers ad?

Hey, the Alpha pants look like fine trousers for tromping in the “wilds” of Manhattan or around your home town. Bear looks good in them, too, a sharp young Brit taking a break from skydiving and eating bugs for a stopover in New York.

—Stephen Regenold is editor of GearJunkie.com. Connect with Regenold at Facebook.com/TheGearJunkie or on Twitter via @TheGearJunkie.

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