the correct term is “manbag” and they are pretty much a subject of eye rolling derision here in the UK.
Students may get away with an over the shoulder laptop bag but anything more dainty and leatherette marks you out as a dangerous fashionista, prone to lattes and hummous and best avoided.
Real men carry one ofthese preferably with a busted zip.
I saw an add about a year ago, trying to build a fashion around them, focusing on the fact that your pants look wonderful when you don’t put anything in the pockets. They seemed to think that this alleged flaw in pant aesthetics has been torturing the minds of the entire male population for years.
Haven’t seen one single such bag on the street. Hint: for such adds, it is useful to employ a male person every now and then. You’ll get an inside look on how men think.
Unless, of course, your social circle consists mainly of gay men in drag. 
Now, now. What’s wrong with lattes and hummus? 
Well, it’s a short, garlic scented and caffeine fuelled walk from there to iPads and funny spectacles.
Now I ask you, is that a world we want to live in?
As a European, I say that man’s carrying a purse. And I believe that that’s the actual joke.
Not necessarily, but it certainly adds a certain je ne sais quoi to life when you walk the line, living on the edge. Don’t you agree? 
Personally, I draw the line at pink dress shirts, but I’m quite fond of both a good latte and big, macho things like guns.
Is that a serious commercial or satire? He looks rather ..hmm. Around here a man would rather be dead than caught wearing one of those. It is not done.
ETA after hours (and post Youtube search): But I’d definitely stay away from that “European shoulder bag”. :dubious: Not even the most flaming of my gay acquaintances would be seen dead wearing one of those! :shudder:
“It was a gift” points with eyes
Lay off of him. A fellow needs a place to keep his tampons, lipstick and nail polish.
My social circle only dress in drag during Red Dress Runs (or in Scotland).
The bag was chosen for the commercial specifically because it looked like a purse, hence the joke. But the underlying idea is that those Sophisticated European Men actually carry murses, and that the wife was following the European style by giving her husband the bag. That led to my question of whether these bags are actually popular in Europe, or if the wife just fell for a marketing scheme. (Actually, she fell for it even if they are a fashion.)
Bear in mind that there is a considerable difference between northern and southern Europe. The behavior/style viewed as effeminate by many in the US (and UK) applies much more to southern European countries (including France).
Brit here. I only watched the first few seconds, but that’s a purse. My mother has something very similar.
I’ve never seen a man carry a bag anything like that anywhere in Europe during many years of extensive travel. Some of my students lately (as in, last couple of years) have been carrying what are referred to as “pouches”, somewhat like this, but the bags are made of sports bag materials with prominent logos rather than what looked like oooh shiny leather with a fetching buckle on the one in the ad. And my students are kids. I’ve never seen an adult with one.
When I asked my husband what he carries in his [del]purse[/del] bag, he said, “Makeup and prophylactics.”
Concur. I posted before I watched it. Any gents shoulder bag smaller than A4 paper and now conspicuously padded to protect camera kit is going to look like a women’s handbag in the UK.
I’ve seen men’s handbags like the one in the video in Italy.
Conversation I had years ago with a friend who started carrying a bag:
Me: “Nice purse.”
Friend: “IT’S NOT A PURSE!”
Me: “Okay. What do you carry in it?”
Friend: “My wallet, my phone and my keys.”
–Friend’s wife walks in–
Me: “Hey [Friend’s wife], what do you carry in your purse?”
Friend’s wife: “My wallet, my phone and my keys. Why?”
Sweden, Europe, here. - Never seen such a bag.
I carry a shoulder bag. I find that carrying grenades, spare magazines, primacord, and a field knife on my belt is not only uncomfortable, but are difficult to accessorize and gives me a bulky figure that interferes with the clean curves of my classic hourglass figure.
Stranger
