Haggar clothing has long been an also-ran in the men's slacks department behind Levi Strauss & Co.'s Dockers and Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. So when a group of private-equity firms acquired the company a year ago, they turned for help to a former Milan-based Versace marketing chief.

The new executive, Stephen Croncota, who has gone from dining on the shores of Lake Como to eating fajitas in Haggar's Dallas office building, could have been expected to inject some of Versace's high-fashion magic into Haggar's marketing.

Instead, he has taken the opposite tack. Under his guidance, Haggar has abandoned its previous youth-themed ad strategy and is acknowledging that Haggar is a brand for average, middle-aged men who don't read GQ and know nothing about the latest trends from Seventh Avenue.

The new strategy will be unveiled this week when Haggar launches the biggest advertising blitz in its 80-year history. Ads to run on TV, in print and online star ordinary-looking men between the ages of 30 and 45 in light-hearted situations. One pretends to advise on "throwing your daughter's boyfriend out the window," cautioning that if doing so, a man should wear a pair of Haggar pants with a Flexible Waistband. The style comes in handy "when you gotta grab a squirmy one," one of the characters says.

The ads are a generation removed from past Haggar ads, which starred buff, 20-something male models in glamorous situations, such as driving in a convertible with a girl perched on the back.

The casual men's clothing maker is recognizing that many of its customers are in their 50s and 60s. "Our guy is the baby-boomer guy," says Mr. Croncota, adding that past attempts to woo young men were a "stretch."

Still, the shift is a radical move for an apparel marketer. Using older people in certain ads has long been taboo on Madison Avenue. Marketers are obsessed with capturing young consumers, believing that older people are set in their consuming ways. And even when marketers aim at baby boomers, they figure middle-aged people like to think of themselves as young and thus won't respond to ads that show people their own age.

"Very few (marketers) have the courage to show their customers aging," says Marshal Cohen, chief analyst of consumer-research firm NPD. "The logic has always said 'market to younger consumers, and the older ones will reach down.'"

Attitudes are beginning to change, though, as baby boomers -- the youngest of whom are now over 40 -- reach their peak earning years. In the past year or two, such marketers as Sony, Ford Motor and Microsoft have targeted older consumers with their marketing pitches. Several months ago, the cosmetics company L'Oreal hired Diane Keaton, the 60-year-old actress, as its latest spokesperson.

"By 2010, one-third of the population will be 50-plus," says Mr. Croncota. "Why would we turn away from them?"

Going older carries risks, though. Levi's' attempt in the 1980s to lure older men with jeans that had a "skosh" more room in the seat, didn't endure. Haggar may lose any chance of drawing in young men through the new campaign, and the reaction of older men is uncertain. "So many marketers are struggling with this. We all look at those ads and say, 'I don't look that way -- do I?" says Rita Rodriguez, chief executive officer of Enterprise IG US, a branding firm owned by WPP Group.

Haggar was once so influential in menswear that it is credited with coining the term "slacks" in the 1940s, when men's leisure time was referred to as "slack time." But in recent years, its sales growth has slowed. Some of the investors that acquired it last year helped turn around well-known apparel brands like Converse, and that helped bring Mr. Croncota on board. "I thought there was a big opportunity in the midmarket men's apparel industry and thought the Haggar brand could be well positioned," he says. Haggar items are currently sold at department stores such as J.C. Penney and Kohl's.

One of Mr. Croncota's first moves was hiring Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the hot Miami ad firm known for its quirky Burger King and Volkswagen ads. To make sure "they have some skin in the game," Mr. Croncota agreed to give Crispin a minority stake in Haggar as part of its compensation.

To prepare for the campaign, Crispin sent staffers to Dallas and Minneapolis, where they visited the homes of about two dozen men, riffling through their closets and quizzing them about their shopping habits. The conclusion: Older men don't care about fashion trends or brand names in clothing. Middle-aged men "can tell you every brand of tool in their tool chest and every club in their golf bag, but they can't tell you the brands that hang in their closets," says Jeff Hicks, chief executive of Crispin.

"The fashion industry doesn't resonate with our customer," adds Mr. Croncota. "We have to turn the typical formula of fashion advertising on its ear."

With this in mind, Haggar's new marketing will focus on the quality of its clothes. Ads will promote Haggar's "unbreakable" buttons, seams and zippers, and bigger, unrippable pockets. The company is even beginning to offer lifetime guarantees on its clothes. Haggar plans to spend $30 million on the campaign over the next year, almost four times the total it spent on ads in the past three years, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

As part of the campaign's antifashion theme, Haggar is financing a segment on a Fox Sports Network reality show. Eight older male models, dressed in Haggar duds, will be pitted against each other in such oddball challenges as a medieval-style joust on lawn mowers. In another challenge, "Paintball Posedown," contestants will pose as fashion models while a paintball gunman fires at them.

Mr. Croncota is even toying with ways to spice up menswear stores. One idea being considered is offering retailers specially designed mannequins -- dubbed "meniquins" -- that look like real guys. Some have mustaches while others hold a beer or a remote control.