Asian Men Re-Create Iconic Underwear Ads

– There’s a lot of old and tired comedy
in media entertainment
that makes fun of Asian men
for not being sexually attractive.
We decided to bring in four,
everyday, Asian American guys
to recreate iconic underwear ads,
who represent a wide
diversity of body types,
sexuality and just general
amounts of fuckability.
I’ve also invited some of my
Asian American male colleagues
across entertainment and media
to provide some consext
to this experiment.
That’s right, consext,
because Asian men have sex,
a lot of sex, which explains
why there are billions of us.
(upbeat music)
Gentlemen, welcome.
We are here today to talk about
why the fuck aren’t Asian
men considered sexy?
– There’s only four left,
and that’s all…
(chuckles)
– The average Asian American male
is never really spoken to,
and what’s interesting,
is I feel like the average male,
in other cultures,
specifically, let’s say,
with white American culture,
is constantly spoken to.
Like, the idea of being an average Joe,
is literally, almost a badge of honor.
– You even see more diversity of size,
and shape, and so forth,
among African American
and Hispanic actors,
at least in comedies, right?
If you are an Asian lead,
you almost have to be super hot.
– Today I’m recreating the
David Beckham Armani ad.
I was born like two months premature,
with a cleft lip and palate.
Growing up, I never liked my face,
because it’s not symmetrical,
and that, compounding it with,
my mom, like, she like, always meant well,
but she’s just like, “Oh,
you have a round face,
“like, you need to work out a lot.”
We all are kind of ascribing to
these western ideas of beauty,
and so, like, I still have a
lot of insecurity about it.
– I get the gift of recreating
the infamous Justin Beiber ad.
I was in high school, and you know,
the jokes start flying around,
when the buddies start
getting thee girlfriends
and, even though I am a man,
I don’t fit the prescribed
notion of what is sexy,
because I don’t look like
the Ryan Goslings, or the Tom Bradys.
I didn’t realize how
different I was
because I was an Asian American.
– Like, people talk about k-pop
as if it’s going to save the world, right?
Like, Asian idols from Asia
(chuckles)
are going to make it all
good for the rest of us.
And, the fact is, as much as I appreciate
that it’s kind of cool,
that it’s being imported here,
it’s again, one of those things
which doesn’t quite solve it for just
everyday Asian guys in
the middle of America.
– I am recreating the
famous Marky Mark Wahlberg
Calvin Klein ad, where
he’s grabbing his junk.
I wasn’t the skinniest kid.
You know, attractiveness is,
how chiseled is your chest?
You know, how nice are your abs?
Like, my mom will say, like,
“You should be skinnier,
“you should be slender,”
and I was like, “I’m sorry if I’m not,
“you know, 155 pounds,
but what’s the big deal?”
– India, doing well, and
like all these macho,
I mean, shaped butt
chins, and John Abraham,
who are, like the Tom Cruises
and Brad Pitts of India,
still has nothing to do with my life.
– I’m recreating the guy
from 50 Shades of Grey.
I was born and raise in Iowa,
so like, there was that
dynamic of just being
kind of the only South Asian,
so it does suck that like,
attractiveness is
something that’s so valued.
Just like, the everyday Asian American man
doesn’t get much, like, love or respect.
– To give this some context,
when these types of videos
or projects are initially constructed,
Buzzfeed is one of the
main contributors to this,
you respond to any sort of prejudice with,
“Hot Asian guys that can
disprove this theory of
“Asian men aren’t hot.”
But, all those men have
traditional features
that play into a western male ideal.
– I haven’t really seen any Asian males
on an underwear campaign.
I just think they’re not represented
because the stereotype
of body type, right?
Slender, small build.
– We’re gonna have to just create
a little bit of a sharper structure,
and maybe along his cheekbones.
And, I wanna give you the confidence
that you need to become Jamie.
– 50 Shades of Grey.
For me, I’m just like,
my body is not shaped that way.
I’ve never been like, swole, or whatever.
So, I just think about, like,
every relationship that I’ve been in
has ended just on some vague term of like,
“You’re great, but there’s
just something missing.”
And so, I wonder if it’s like,
that last little facet of
just, like, pure attractiveness.
– Even for Justin Beiber, this
person who is so celebrated,
even he isn’t perfect.
I hope to reaffirm the idea
that there is strength in vulnerability.
If I look in a mirror,
I would like to see the person
looking right back at me,
and I am
so nervous.
(chuckling)
– Yes, we have unicorns,
you know what I mean?
It’s like, there are
genetically gifted people
of every ethnicity.
There’s no question about that,
but it doesn’t adjust the larger reality
that we live in a culture in
which the basic standards,
you know, not the ones
that we can aspire to,
not the ones that if we, you know,
gym ratted all of our lives
and we’re born with right parents
and all that stuff, whatever,
like, the basic standard for what
an Asian guy looks like
probably falls short in different ways.
– It’s not ever gonna be
comfortable to be doing this.
I kind of wish I was doing it, you know,
when Mark Wahlberg was 21.
Even body builders are like,
“Aww, it’s never good enough,”
even though their bodies
are perfectly sculpted.
I think personally, for me,
in terms of what I want
to achieve for this video,
it’s just kinda being more
comfortable with my body.
– David Beckham is the epitome
of this European, like,
embodiment of masculinity.
– I think what I’m nervous
about this photo is
am I going to be hot enough
to represent Asian American
masculinity in this photo.
– You never ever get to see
these images in media of like
an asian guy you grew up with
or your brother, or your father.
– With media in this country,
because it has been predominately white,
and I get like, you know, I’m sure, like,
some people are, like,
“Stop talking about not being white.”
But, when you’re not the majority in it,
you have to have that visibility
just so you can show people, like,
it’s not the only option.
If you like that, great,
but like, it can’t be
the only thing you see.
– We got the set ready
and we’re gonna see if I can
look like this 50 Shades guy.
– The facial expression,
I will be helping you along the way.
– Coming into young adulthood,
where I was very much questioning,
like, your self value,
as an attractive person because
you just don’t fit that particular mold.
Everyday people are freaking beautiful,
you know, like, that should also
be part of the conversation,
in terms of attractiveness.
I’m hoping that that kind of just gives me
more confidence in myself,
my body, my melanin,
to keep, just kind of, expand our idea
of what attractiveness could be.
– [Macey] This time, over
exaggerate your muscles.
– (chuckle) I’m pushing it to like,
110 right now (chuckling).
– [Macey] Perfect.
(chuckles)
Last one.
One, two, three.
– If you want a body like this,
all you gotta do is just
eat In-N-Out all day.
Every single Asian American
should feel comfortable
in their own skin, regardless
or not, of what perception is.
– Head tipped this way.
The other way, like this way.
Furrow your brow a little bit.
A little bit more.
Less back, but like, just normal.
(laughing) Do you want to see?
– It’s a lot harder than you think,
getting it exactly, you know,
your head tilted a certain way,
your pinky has to be this way.
I mean, in the end, it’s
about you and how you feel,
not “Well, you know,
“Asian guys are typically
small and scrawny,
“like, why do you look so big?
“Like, maybe you should, you
know, slim down a little.”
I hope I do Marky Mark proud.
– In a very, kind of, subtle way,
this exercise, just putting Asian guys,
who are just everyday Asian
guys, into this frame,
they may not look like the ripped athlete,
or the super model, but
maybe it’ll make somebody
turn around and say, “You
know, that guy isn’t too bad.”
– Head down a little bit more.
– Identifying as an LGBT man,
and being Asian American,
it compounds certain
qualities of masculinity,
it’s giving merit, because
you’re able to pass
in a heteronormative society.
You think of every kind
of movement that you do,
and how is that put under this microscope
that we have created, like, as a society.
Dating’s very difficult,
and when people contact me,
it’s are you contacting me
because you’re fetishizing me?
Are you contacting me
because I am the exception
to this Asian idea that you have?
So, it’s always this kind
of second guessing, as well,
of being an Asian American.
– Time for me to get
into my tighty-whities.
Let’s pretend abs in there.
– Keep in mind that he was photoshopped,
so, don’t get too stressed
out about the muscle thing.
– Oh my God!
These images on social media,
you get a set up,
and you get to look perfect,
and that fantasy is what
so many people work on.
To wake up every day believing that
that is what I need to achieve,
that is so exhausting to think about.
– Okay perfect.
I think we got it.
– With what’s out there
generally, in media,
we don’t see much supporting
the average Asian male
being a sex God, right?
Because we’re bing realistic, like,
anyone can’t just be an underwear model.
– You know, the way that
the fashion industry,
and I think especially this
kind of fashion, works is
they’re going to look for a certain type,
there’s the Victoria Secret type,
and there’s the, you know, the Obsession,
– [Man] The GQ type, yeah.
– the Calvin Klein kind of underwear type,
and the reality is, you know,
yeah, that’s a tiny, tiny micro
fragment of the population.
– We know we can easily go
to like a modeling agency
and get the people who are equally ripped
as any other ethnicity
and they’d be perfect for it.
You know, what we’re seeing is like,
with these four guys,
is like, people who are,
are like, just normal people,
and you’re right, we
don’t see that, though,
in regular underwear ads anyway.
I think that they just need to focus on
seeing the underwear on what ideally
fit, healthy people want to be.
– It’s been one week,
and we’re about to do the reveal.
You know, I’m not going to lie,
of course I feel a little bit nervous.
When I look at this photo of Marky Mark,
immediately the first thing
you’re going to think of is,
“Is this what a real man’s
supposed to look like?”
– [Man] Look at it.
– (chuckles) Is that
all that chest hair me,
or did you guys highlight it
to make it look like, it’s
like, more popping up?
If you were to tell me that
I’d probably be in my underwear
recreating one of the most
famous underwear ads, a week ago,
I probably would have been
like, “I’m not doing that.”
But, I mean, looking at it now,
it turned out better than I expected.
– Right before we reveal it,
I feel a little excited, a little nervous.
There’s no way it looks like this.
He just fits like that, exact structure
of this, like, attractive specimen,
and so, naturally, when I
see myself, my own body,
it’s just, like, not,
it just doesn’t check these same boxes.
Oh my God.
My eyes are just drawn
first to, like, blemishes.
I like this, what is that called?
That’s a muscle, right? (chuckles)
I mean, when we put them side by side,
I don’t really see much of a similarity.
That’s not to say that
this isn’t as attractive.
Ultimately, it’s just very contextual
of like, what is attractive.
If this never comes
out, and this is the ad,
like, maybe there’s a shot at that being
the ideal of attractiveness.
– We are given an opportunity now,
just as Asian men in western media,
to say, we can be hot.
Any one of us can feel
and express ourselves
in a sexual way, and it’s not weird,
and it’s not a gimmick,
it’s just who we are.
– Like, I feel my heart
racing, like oh my gosh, man.
When I look at this, Justin Beiber’s
oozing with confidence,
and I’m supposed to strive
to emulate that, and
that’s so much pressure.
Alright.
Oh! (chuckling) Oh my God!(chuckling)
You know, that’s not at all that photo.
I can see my imperfections
and this body is not picture perfect.
Seeing it side by side, it
doesn’t feel so bad, actually.
It’s changing, in that, like,
a little bit more of ownership, of like,
yeah, this is my body.
You’ve got to be able to,
to feel comfortable in your own skin,
to express who you are.
– David Beckham is a lot to live up to,
in this kind of like,
unreachable sexiness.
I think I’m really worried
that I’m gonna look like
I’m trying to do all these things,
but not exactly succeeding.
Ahh (chuckling).
There I am.
I never like pictures of myself,
and I like this picture.
Like, I feel empowered in this.
I don’t feel less than,
after seeing this picture.
Like, I know that I’ll never be this,
like, David Beckham masculinity,
but I think seeing this picture,
actually, like lets me kind of own
a piece of my own masculinity.
There’s so many definitions
of what being attractive is,
and Asian men, definitely
fit in those definitions.
– No matter what your body type is,
or how you look, what you
have to offer, in here,
is a lot more important than
the size of your biceps or your abs,
or how many times you can
push a weight up and down.
– It’s like I’m sure Marky Mark,
you know, has body insecurities,
and regardless or not of how short,
how tall, how fat, how skinny you are,
I mean, the most real thing you can do,
is to love yourself, love your body,
and just forget about everyone else.
– I think, regardless of
what an Asian man looks like,
we all have sexy qualities about us.
– This is such an old archetype,
of like, the only way a
man can be attractive.
This has equal value.
To be able to change, is to be fluid,
an to be fluid means that you can exist
in different contexts,
which I think is so
important, especially for
Asian American men, as we move
forward in our definition,
or redefining of masculinity.
– If you could say one thing
to sort of round out this conversation,
what would you say?
– Fuck an Asian guy.
(laughs)
like, literally,
(giggles)
fuck an Asian guy, period.
(laughs)
Period.

This is another fuckable Asian! Four Asian guys re-create famous underwear ads as a roundtable of media experts dig deep into the question, “Why aren’t Asian men considered sexy?” GET MORE BUZZFEED: www.buzzfeed.com/videoteam www.facebook.com/buzzfeedvideo www.instagram.com/buzzfeedvideo www.buzzfeed.com/video www.youtube.com/buzzfeedvideo www.youtube.com/buzzfeedyellow www.youtube.com/buzzfeedblue www.youtube.com/buzzfeedviolet BUZZFEED VIDEO BuzzFeed Motion Picture’s flagship channel. Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, always shareable. New videos posted daily! Subscribe to BuzzFeedVideo today! http://bit.ly/YTbuzzfeedvideo MUSIC Can’t Help You Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. Six Faces_NoVox Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. Run With The Stars Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. Augmented Reality_Main Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. Licensed via Audio Network Candles And Shadows Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. Timeless_FullMix Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. Liteness and Dark Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. Dreamz Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. Deeper Blue Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc. STILLS Male muscled underwear model wearing white shorts. Blonde hair. ysbrandcosijn/Getty Images Awakening in the morning dor-riss/Getty Images Attractive bare-chested male in underwear SanneBerg/Getty Images COMMUNITY — “VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing” Episode 509 — Pictured: Ken Jeong as Se?or Chang Justin Lubin/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images David Beckham unveils the worldwide exclusive of the new Emporio Armani Underwear Fall / Winter 2009-10 campaign GAMMA/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images American model, rapper and later actor Mark Wahlberg, aka Marky Mark, poses in his underwear, circa 1991. Tim Roney/Getty Images Constance Marie and George Lopez enjoy a lighter moment between takes of the George Lopez show Wednesday at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. Myung J. Chun/Getty Images SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 24: Steven Yeun poses for a portrait at the Getty Images Portrait Studio powered by Samsung Galaxy at Comic-Con International 2014 on July 24, 2014 in San Diego, California. MJ Kim/Getty Images MUMBAI, INDIA – OCTOBER 05: Hrithik Roshan walks the runway during day 3 of Myntra Fashion Weekend 2014 at The Palladium Hotel on October 5, 2014 in Mumbai, India Chirag Wakaskar/Getty Images BEIJING, CHINA – DECEMBER 10: (CHINA OUT) Bigbang’s Taeyang attends “Young Choice” annual activity held by Tudou on December 10, 2014 in Beijing, China. VCG/VCG/Getty Images HONG KONG – NOVEMBER 22: (CHINA OUT) T.O.P of Bigbang performs on the stage during the 2013 Mnet Asia Music Awards(MAMA) at AsiaWorld-Expo on November 22, 2013 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. VCG/VCG/Getty Images UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – FEBRUARY 22: Actor Harry Shum Jr. attends the premiere of Netflix’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny” at AMC Universal City Walk on February 22, 2016 in Universal City, California. Mike Windle/Getty Images MUMBAI, INDIA SEPTEMBER 27: Bollywood actor Kunal Kapoor during the GQ India Men of the year Award 2016 ceremony, at Grand Hyatt, Santacruz, on September 27, 2016 in Mumbai, India Pramod Thakur/Hindustan Times /Getty Images “Rain’s Coming” – Rain World Tour Concert in Seoul – December 15, 2006 Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA JANUARY 12: John Abraham at the announcement ceremony of Hera Pheri 3 Milind Shelte/India Today Group/Getty Images PHILADELPHIA – AUGUST 13: of the Philadelphia Eagles during a game against the New England Patriots on August 13, 2009 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Hunter Martin/Getty Images Actor Ryan Gosling attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images Created by https://www.buzzfeed.com/bfmp/videos/11990 + Tiffany Lee www.instagram.com/beautystylelist + Neel Ghosh + Justin Yang + Andres Paul Ramacho + Nathan Ramos + Parvesh Cheena + Jeff Yang + David Dang