August was a big month for Transgender awareness as Nike aired its first ever ad with a female to male trans duathlete, Chris Mosier. The first to make the national team. Some are applauding the move as a real move forward for men’s advertising, athletic fashion and male athletic stereotypes. But I talked to  some very liberal men and they found it unsettling. Is that bigoted, backwards, or quite frankly, a normal reaction from men who are finding the blurred lines uncomfortable? This is a young nation when you think about it. Men and women’s roles only really did an about-face in the late 60s. Before that  – a man went to  work, a woman stayed home with the children (for the most part) and not much was heard about transgender individuals or even homosexuality. So this ad – while it is a giant step forward for all of us – is taking some getting used to for men who are finding the gender roles as they knew it, no longer exist. It can be threatening. In fairness, I talked to a bunch of men who think it’s absolutely awesome. Look, wherever you stand on the issue, all change, even the good kind comes with growing pains. In ten years, we probably won’t be talking about it. But last week, ad firms all over town could talk about nothing else. Yay, Nike. You wowed us with the “Just Do It” campaign and now you have taken a bold chance. Either way, ad geeks say that any time everyone is talking about  your ad – that’s a good thing! See the video below.