Joe
Boxer Dancing Guy -
Who's that black guy dancing in his underwear?
His name is Vaughn Lowery and he is a
22-year-old Detroit-born
model/dancer for Joe Boxer underwear products – sold exclusively
at K-mart in the United States.
The humorous TV
ads have Vaughn decked out in his skivvies as he wiggles, and
prances about in front of the TV camera to the bouncy bosa nova
instrumental tune "Jet Sounds" created by Nicola Conte from the
"Jet Sound" Album. Vaughn's cutesy dance style has been dubbed
the "Joe Boxer Boogie,"
is a fanciful
combination of pretending to bounce in place, jump rope, and
prance about while smiling silly toothy grins.
Jay Leno of NBC's THE TONIGHT
SHOW spoofed the Joe Boxer TV spots by airing the Joe Boxer
Boogie number during his monologue but with the face of the
show's band leader Kevin Eubanks (a Vaughn look-alike)
superimposed over the dancer's face. The practical joke was well
received especially by appreciative prisoners from the Idaho
Correctional Facility who dropped Jay a letter and off
ered
to give Kevin a big sloppy kiss for his troubles.
The origins of the Boxer Boogie can
be traced to Vaughn Lowery's audition for the Joe Boxer TV ads.
According to Vaughn "I
just pulled down my pants, I went in and they played some music
and I did my thing. We did 25 takes of it, non-stop, and all the
dances I choreographed myself."
These
spots (which put the boogie
back in the blue light special at K-mart)
were
produced by the New York offices of TBWA/Chiat/Day for Kmart,
with creative input from the Joe Boxer in-house San Francisco
creative team. Barbara McDonough was the Director. Established
in 1985 by Nicolas Graham, the Joe Boxer Corp.
is a now wholly owned subsidiary of
Windsong Allegiance Group, LLC. in Westport, CT. TRIVIA
NOTE: In 1988 Joe Boxer was the first company
to offer a line of glow-in-the-dark underwear. In 2003, the
popularity of the Joe Boxer dance inspired K-mart in association
with YaYa (the
leading creator of customized branding and training
entertainment) to create a computer interactive game called
"Boxer Boogie Breakdown." With a click of a button gamers can
control the Joe Boxer dancer
and recreate the actual moves from the TV commercials such as
the "Puppy Dog," "Spazz," "Touch Down" and "Knock-Knock."
