A Recent History of Accidental Dicks in Men's Style

Image via Complex Original

When: January 2015

“Inflategate” would likely be the puntastic headline tied to Justin Bieber's now infamous Calvin Klein underwear ad. Shot as part of a larger Calvin Klein campaign, the ad features Bieber, clad in Calvin Klein briefs and standing center frame. While this is typically pretty innocuous for an underwear promotion, the ads hit fever pitch when an exposé proved that Bieber wasn't exposing the genuine article—but rather a photoshopped bulge. It's normal to expect that an advertisement would expand and define muscles and clean up facial imperfections (which, of course they did), but when it's for an underwear ad, you'd expect that…well, what you see is what you get. Of course Bieber and his team denied the allegations—namely through an equally revealing Instagram photo—and the originator of the claims retracted their story. But even though the story was shut down, and Calvin Klein's social media presence bloomed because of the ads, there's no telling if Bieber's bulge is really “Eenie Meenie,” or not.

When: January 2015

Fall and winter are obviously the coldest seasons of the year, but for his corresponding seasonal show, Rick Owens decided to send a few models down the runway with their penises exposed. Maybe Rick didn't get the message, but we imagine some serious shrinkage if he expects guys to wear his designs—dick out. Yes, while the move was an intentional one (using the open neck of a trench coat to loosely cover up his models' lower halves) it was a shock to many who were reporting on the show—even though it was a minimal peek at the boys' privates.

For Owens, the stunt was all commentary, claiming that the move was equal parts classical sculptures and Michael Fassbender in the flim Shame. For the rest of us, it was just the beginning of calling dickpics, “Rickpics”

When: January 2015

A classic dick pick dilemma: is it a the outline, or just an expertly placed wrinkle? Chris Brown was clearly hoping people would see the former in this image, released on (but since deleted from) his Instagram page. While Chris isn't too shy about showing his junk—like in a green full body suit, or via leaked hotel mirror pictures, both in 2011—it's not like he's saying “Look at me Now” in this relaxed Instagram image.

When: June 2015

It's Game Four of the 2015 NBA finals, and the Cleveland Cavaliers just took a disappointing loss against the Golden State Warriors. But shockingly, all that tension fell away the moment that LeBron accidentally flashed his penis to the entire viewing public.

More akin to a nip slip than an intentional flash, ABC unintentionally showcased LeBron's shaft as he was adjusting his basketball shorts. While it was only on screen for literal seconds, social media lit up with the possible dick-slip—even prompting someone to create a Twitter account in its honor. Sadly, LeBron didn't get the NBA title, but at least his penis has 240 followers.

When: July 2015

You're sitting in class, in a meeting, or at a family gathering. Then for no reason at all, you start feeling a surge of energy in your underwear. Too late to stop it, but unable to hide it, you sit in uncomfortable shame as the idea of imagining everyone in their underwear, unsurprisingly, makes the situation all the more worse. It's a unique problem for all guys, until the invention of Bloxers.

An Indiegogo project that's aimed at concealing a boner before it reveals itself, the product takes inspiration from Ron Burgundy's untimely erection in the first Anchorman film. No matter how you feel about the product, any guy who has found themselves with their flag at full attention can appreciate the practicality of this product. You might not want to wear them every day, but it's certainly the type of product that, when you need it, you really need it.

When: August 2015

It's hard not to think that Lenny did this one to himself. As Lenny was performing during a set in Sweden, his tight leather pants ripped wide open during a deep crouch onstage. Naturally, this mishap prompted social media fervor, under the name "penisgate".

Watching footage (pun not intended) of Kravitz during the performance, it's immediately obvious that he noticed his wardrobe malfunction the moment it happened. Surprisingly, the fans (some of who got a face full of Kravitz's private parts) were actually pretty relaxed about it, explaining to local papers that Kravitz simply ran offstage, only to reappear with a new pair of pants. Even his daughter, Zoë, had a sense of humor about the whole affair. It may sound stereotypical, but needless to say, if you're going to flash a crowd full of people, consider doing it in Europe.