The Super Bowl can make men the stuff of legend, and not just on the field. David Beckham, star of that “other” football game, got a lot of attention for his H&M underwear ad that aired during the event. Now that H & M ad is worth a double take. On Feb. 7, E! News reported Beckham used a body double in the underwear commercial.
It’s news that has fans wondering if, and where, Beckham might have used a butt double.
The soccer star’s appearance in the H&M video was memorable, and not just because Guy Ritchie directs the action-filled commercial. It features Beckham chasing an SUV through the Beverly Hills in a series of shots, as he leaps over a fence, kicks a soccer ball, dives into a pool and jumps over a car hood.
And here’s the important part: Beckham does all this while wearing only tight H&M Bodywear briefs over his equally tight body; his robe is caught in the car door of the vehicle he pursues. Naturally, the ad focuses less on the surrounding scenery and more on Beckham’s most enviable assets.
But it turns out the assets don’t always belong to the 37-year-old Beckham. Rumors soon circulated that what Beckham shows off in the underwear commercial isn’t always Beckham, rumors then confirmed by H&M.
"David was very involved in the advert including doing most of the stunts," a rep for H&M said in a statement obtained by E! Online. "Due to his tight schedule a body double was used in smaller parts of the video."
Is David Beckham’s body double also a butt double?
Which parts of the H&M video, of course, are what’s in question – as well as the bigger question: Is that David Beckham’s butt?
But the revealing news that Beckham used a body double is something those with an eye for such details had already suspected after closely watching, and rewatching, the H&M underwear ad. Huffington Post UK points to continuity errors, citing shifting tattoos on Beckham’s body when viewed from behind and varying degrees of muscle definition on the same body parts. Then there are also the shots of the butt, some of which provide Beckham with more “lift” than others.
That Beckham used a body double seems to undercut the star’s earlier words in which he told the Associated Press:
“It was good fun playing an action hero for the day, getting to do all the stunts and ending up in unexpected situations."
There’s the sense that Beckham’s use of a double is somehow deceptive, in part because it’s hard to imaging the soccer star needing anyone to stand in for him for either the stunts or the sexy.
Is Beckham’s H&M underwear ad “Buttgate?”
But is the news worth being called “Buttgate,” which is how The Daily Beast referred to H&M’s statement? Body doubles and airbrushing is old news for Hollywood, especially for women, to the point that the practice is so common that it’s generally not worth commenting on.
Perhaps it’s the fact that Beckham, a professional athlete in near-prime condition who’s carved out a nice as a sexy celebrity athlete. Is it Beckham’s use of a body double, for whatever reason, that’s so unsettling, especially for men? After all, Beckham’s using a body double – whether or not the person is specifically used as a butt double – might suggest something we hold physical standards that are nearly impossible for mere mortals to achieve.
Or maybe there’s another possibility. Let’s call it Buttgate. Because attaching “gate” to the word butt is not only funny; it undercuts the whole idea that there’s anything to really look at here…in terms of a scandal, at least.
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