Dive Brief:

• Buffalo Wild Wings debuted a campaign marking the beginning of football season, according to materials provided to Marketing Dive.
• The restaurant chain introduced the "Football Prenup," a faux contract between football fans and their loved ones that helps them establish the terms of their upcoming season of sports viewing. The effort was created by agency 22squared, includes a video starring NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira and taps several influential couples, such as college football reporter Laura Rutledge and her husband, former baseball player Josh Rutledge.
• Buffalo Wild Wings will air eight TV ads, developed by The Martin Agency, from Aug. 26 throughout the season. The 30-second "Mancave" spot positions the restaurant as an alternative to "mancaves," while the 15-second "High Five" spot features the chain's refreshed Football Game Day Menu.

Dive Insight:

To prepare for football season, Buffalo Wild Wings is embracing some more traditional views of masculinity with its latest campaign. While not explicitly calling out the gender of participants, the Football Prenup videos highlight men eager to protect their football viewing time from the encroachment of weddings, gender reveal parties and cuddling with loved ones, among other activities. Meanwhile, the "Mancave" spot is more explicit, telling consumers that a so-called "mancave" is "not a masculine refuge: it's a basement in your wife's house."

At a time when many brands are moving away from traditional — and often toxic — views of masculinity, Buffalo Wild Wings is doubling down on traditional ideas of who watches football in its restaurants. The campaign could be an attempt to attract male consumers that were turned off by recent tradition-breaking efforts by brands like Axe, Gillette, Schick and Hanes.

The campaign is not Buffalo Wild Wings' first man-focused effort. During March Madness this spring, the chain debuted the "Jewel Stool," a custom barstool with a cooling system built into the seat, as part of a campaign promoting its restaurants as a better place to watch games than at home. The stool was a nod to a reported rise in vasectomies during the NCAA basketball tournament, when thousands of men schedule the procedures to coincide with March Madness so they can spend their doctor-ordered resting time watching games.

The chain also ran another campaign in which it took to Instagram to shame men that didn't tune in to March Madness games. Both efforts looked to capture viral attention and draw customers at peak time for sports-centered bars and restaurants.