{"id":159404,"date":"2025-11-02T21:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T21:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/159404\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T21:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T21:38:09","slug":"does-a-pacino-de-niro-bromance-ad-contain-the-seeds-of-a-cure-for-male-loneliness-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/159404\/","title":{"rendered":"Does a Pacino-De Niro bromance ad contain the seeds of a cure for male loneliness? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

After my mom died, I went to the same movie every day for a week, a buddy comedy about two divorce mediators who sneak into weddings to seduce women. The Vince Vaughn<\/a>–Owen Wilson<\/a> bromance in Wedding Crashers was a hilarious, heartwarming distraction from my blues.<\/p>\n

So I was happy, 20 years later, to see the real-life friends in Xfinity ads reprising their roles, bro-ing out on a sleepover where they watch sports and get ready for a Vaughn speciality: pancakes and guac.<\/p>\n

Then I noticed other bro commercials: seriously buff comic actors Kumail Nanjiani<\/a> and Rob Mac aiming to make DirecTV hip, sparring in fur coats, tinted aviators and lots of bling as they watch sports.<\/p>\n

Scrubs BFFs Zach Braff<\/a> and Donald Faison are singing, dancing and hanging in the hood, sometimes with Jason Momoa<\/a> and John Travolta<\/a>, pushing T-Mobile.<\/p>\n

Matthew McConaughey<\/a> and Woody Harrelson<\/a>, stars of the first season of True Detective, showcase the zany Texas chemistry from their real-life friendship in ads for Salesforce.<\/p>\n

And the Big Kahuna: Al Pacino<\/a> and Robert De Niro<\/a> bring the Godfather vibe to a campaign for Moncler focusing on their friendship, titled \u201cWarmer Together\u201d. It\u2019s strictly business, but it\u2019s also personal.<\/p>\n

I was startled by all the cool male friendship ads, given the alarming stories about an epidemic of male loneliness and a diminution of friendship and romance in the lives of men, especially young men.<\/p>\n

With their depictions of fun buddy bonding \u2013 harking back to a time before technology swallowed communication \u2013 Madison Avenue is modelling the sort of friendships that are waning in society.<\/p>\n

I Zoomed with Platon, the British photographer who shot the black-and-white Moncler ad of the two Godfathers cuddling \u2013 and secretly tickling each other under their arms. (The billboards are splashed everywhere from the Bowery to Sunset Boulevard.) Platon, who is known for his striking portraits of world leaders, also directed a short black-and-white video with Pacino and De Niro wearing the brand\u2019s warm, puffy, pricey coats on a rooftop overlooking New York City and chatting about their warm feelings for each other. The soundtrack is a cover of Bill Withers\u2019s Lean on Me. (The Italian octogenarians are still having babies<\/a>, so they may need the paycheque.)<\/p>\n

\n

When a woman doesn\u2019t have a romantic relationship, she pours that energy into her work and her friends. When a man doesn\u2019t have a romantic relationship, he pours that energy into porn and conspiracy theories<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Scott Galloway, podcaster and New York University professor<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Friendship \u201cis the greatest thing you can have\u201d, says Pacino, who has been in four movies with De Niro and met him even before the Godfather saga. \u201cAnd the understanding of life. There is just an innate trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that social media<\/a> and politics now are built on anger, suspicion, division and tribalism, Platon said the ad is auguring a better future for carbon-based beings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as the novelty of AI<\/a> wears off and it just becomes part of the way we live, the genuine human connection between people, men and women of all ages, is going to become the most valuable social currency,\u201d he said. \u201cSomething that\u2019s real, something that has soul, something that is tender, vulnerable, sincere. And sometimes complicated to deal with. The human condition is very, very complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not the solipsistic world that many young men are creating for themselves with pliable, eager-to-please AI companions and fantasy love objects. A Harper\u2019s piece by Daniel Kolitz describes a shocking new movement of interiority among pornography-obsessed Gen Zers called \u201cgooning\u201d: a life filled with marathon masturbation that goes on so long it becomes meditation, in search of the \u201cgoonstate\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s young men who are not making connections with friends, mentors or mates,\u201d said Scott Galloway, the podcaster and New York University professor whose new book is Notes on Being a Man, a memoir\/aspirational code for masculinity for young men.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a woman doesn\u2019t have a romantic relationship, she pours that energy into her work and her friends,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a man doesn\u2019t have a romantic relationship, he pours that energy into porn and conspiracy theories. It\u2019s the guy that comes off the tracks and goes down a rabbit hole,\u201d sometimes, in extreme cases, leading to mental illness and violence.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mankeeping: why it\u2019s bad for women and menOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cMen need relationships much more than women,\u201d he said, adding that the growing number of men who can\u2019t connect to other men or women is \u201ca disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a combination of the loneliness, the lack of economic opportunity for men and being in these synthetic online relationships where they aren\u2019t forced to take risks and develop real life skills around work, friendships, and romantic and sexual relationships. And then they have this godlike technology that creates lifelike relationships that are frictionless,\u201d Galloway said.<\/p>\n

\u201cManaging a romantic relationship is really hard, but victory in that gives you the skills to be successful in other parts of your life and ultimately create purpose and meaning in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alarmed by the cases of teens dying by suicide when egged on by an online avatar, Galloway said he believes synthetic relationships should be outlawed for anyone under the age of 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung men need male role models, they need friends, and ideally a romantic partner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Could the ad duets of actors who are friends serve as a positive example?<\/p>\n

Galloway wasn\u2019t sure that young, financially struggling, lonely men would be inspired by the celebrity bromances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys are wealthy and outside of the house a lot and a little bit older, so they\u2019re not addicted to their phones,\u201d he said. \u201cThey haven\u2019t been radicalised. They have women in their lives, which is a key component.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After my mom died, I went to the same movie every day for a week, a buddy comedy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[22944,18,117,12650,19,17,4101,39533,14501,86594,167,92724,70879,1114,384,92723,91133],"class_list":{"0":"post-159404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-al-pacino","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-generation-z","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-jason-momoa","15":"tag-john-travolta","16":"tag-matthew-mcconaughey","17":"tag-maureen-dowd","18":"tag-mental-health","19":"tag-owen-wilson","20":"tag-robert-de-niro","21":"tag-social-media","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-vince-vaughn","24":"tag-woody-harrelson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115482270234813148","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}