Talk show host Conan O’Brien has added his unique style of comedy to a campaign to improve the worldwide image of red haired men.
A video portraying redheads as cool, sexy and confident has been produced in England as part of an art exhibition, with the goal of dispelling the myth that red haired males can’t be the leading man.
O’Brien, one of America’s most famous redheads, heard about the promotion and created a spoof casting himself as the hot young man. The video has gone down a storm on YouTube and helped to create publicity for the art exhibition.
Thomas Knights, the photographer behind the Red Hot exhibit, said: “In the UK and throughout the world, being ginger and male comes with many stigmas attached. Many are bullied at school and for some, even later in life.
“As far as I can see, no one has focused on the huge, polarised gap between the way our society perceives red headed women (often the ultimate woman – think Jessica Rabbit) and red headed males (often emasculated and de-sexualised in film and TV – no Hollywood heroes – no leading men).
“No other hair colour has this level of gender inequality in any society, and Red Hot holds a mirror up to the preconceived limitations we put on the red headed males.”
O’Brien is one of America’s most popular TV personalities. His gentle lampooning of the video has helped raise awareness of the exhibition across the world. He said on his chat show: “The video’s getting out there, it’s online, and it’s getting some attention it’s pretty cool.”
Conan O’Brien’s edit of the Red Hot video
American star Conan O’Brien is more Irish than the majority of Irish born people