Hi, Dad! Dockers wants in on the cargo shorts debate

Your dad’s favorite pants company has gotten wind of the Great Cargo Shorts Debate of 2016: Dockers has mobilized its pleated-front social media team and is launching a #TeamCargo and #CargoFriday Twitter campaign today.

“Here at Dockers, we support your right to cargo! We get it — guys have a lot to carry and the more pockets the better, always,” said a press release about the campaign. The brand is tweeting out pictures of the “great styles” at Dockers and encouraging people to tweet their support for cargo shorts.

It’s a bit of not-quite-real-time marketing: The debate peaked nearly two weeks ago, when The Wall Street Journal published a story last Monday titled “Nice Cargo Shorts! You’re Sleeping On the Sofa,” a look at why both women and fashionably minded men look upon cargo shorts with scorn. The story by reporter Nicole Hong stirred fervent debate on social media, with celebrities like Judd Apatow to FCC chairman Tom Wheeler getting in on it. The Wall Street Journal’s own newsroom also held a mini cargo-shorts fest of its own last Friday.

Digiday reported that there were almost 6,000 social posts about shorts a few days after the story. We anxiously await the sequel on the merits of jorts.

 

More in Marketing

The anatomy of an agency chief client officer

Several major agencies have moved to appoint chief client officers to their top cohorts lately.

How marketers rank this year’s generative AI image, video tools

Digiday’s 2025 agency generative AI report card explores the winners and losers of the generative AI landscape.

In memoriam: Brands we lost in 2025

Digiday Media staff rounded up some of the most notable brand names we lost in 2025, like Joann and Rite Aid.