You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …

The Product:
Smart Wallets

The Promotion:

The Pitch:
It’s a wallet … that fits in your pocket! No one has ever done this before!

This is an odd one for me, in that I’m not sure if the ad’s pulling a hoodwink, inventing a “problem” that it can then “solve”, or if this is a case of me missing out on some unspoken social rule all these years and I’m only just now learning of it.

The crux of the Smart Wallet sales pitch is that keeping a large, bulky wallet in your back pocket can cause problems – from discomfort to worsening back problems to providing an attractive target for pickpockets. And I can see how that would be true. But, like, do people usually put wallets in their back pockets?

Long as I’ve had a wallet, I’ve always put it in my front pocket, and never really paid attention to where other people put theirs. It never occurred to me that anyone would want to put their wallet (or anything else) in their back pockets – why would they, when those are harder to reach, and having stuff in them is bound to make any seat less comfy? To me, back pockets are something that’s only ever been there in case of emergencies – when you absolutely have to stash something somewhere, and everywhere else on your person is already filled to capacity.

But this ad seems to suggest that wallets in the back pocket is just the done thing, that no one would think of keeping their wallet in a front pocket … not until Smart Wallet made a wallet so trim, you can put it there without creating a visible bulge.

So my question is, have I been unwittingly committing a fashion faux pas all these years by jamming my wallet (and my phone, and keys, and other sundry items) into the front pockets of my pants? Is having those pockets noticeably full unappealing to lookers on, but everyone’s just been too polite to tell me?

Or is Smart Wallet just trying to make me think front pocket use is socially unacceptable, so that I’ll have a reason to buy what they’re selling?

I’m legitimately curious here. Please, let me know.