“What I wear is pants. What I do is live.”

Thomas Merton, Day of a Stranger

Now tell me that quote wasn’t made for a Dockers advertisement. The problem is, Merton was a Trappist monk, and the Trappists own the copyright to everything he wrote. The Trappist (Cistercian) Order would never allow that great Catholic spiritualist’s words to be used in such a tinseltown manner. Or would they? Maybe there’s a deal waiting to be made.

Here’s my idea: Dockers puts out a full-page spread in some trendy youth magazines featuring a photo of Merton (in his work pants, obviously, not in his monastic robes). The quote is placed in the upper corner of the ad, and a little bio is given just below the pic; maybe “Thomas Merton, 1915-1968, Cistercian Monk, Priest, Poet, Author, Peace Activist”. Then on the lower right side, in discreet lettering, “Dockers … nice pants”.

Dockers comes out looking good for putting out a soft-sell, public service type ad, and the Trappists get to market the thoughts and writings of Thomas Merton to a new generation, one that otherwise might never have heard of him. The ad helps to sell pants, religion, and Merton’s books (which the Trappists still make money off of) to the younger crowd all at the same time. It’s a slam-dunk win-win.

Hey, just an idea. Not that I’m endorsing Dockers here. I never owned a pair of them in my life (showing my age here). As to Merton, well, I AM endorsing him; I own plenty of his books. Regarding the subject of advertisement design, this isn’t the first off-beat idea for an ad or a video that I’ve had. But I keep my day job, because my ideas are generally very off-beat. Oh well, maybe in another life …