Tim: Brands I don’t think are are intentionally omitting straight guys. They are going where the sales are currently. As they see the dollar shift, which is happening right now, you will see advertising to all types of consumers. Let’s say we have you as the marketing manager of a big underwear brand. How would you bring awareness and sell underwear to a broader audience? What would be important?

Brandon: In order to reach a broader audience you really need to focus on changing the purchasing habits of consumers. 7 out of 10 pairs made for men are bought by women? I think an ad campaign that shames the (largely straight) population with that fact and presenting a look at what they’re missing would be ideal. Obviously the cost of doing so would far outweigh the new revenue from the underwear, so long as the market remains the same. For straight men, availability is key. Andrew Christian signed a deal with Nordstrom. I talked to a retail sales person at the huge Nordstrom on Michigan Ave in Chicago last summer who said the biggest repeat customers who came back in to snap up more AC stuff seemed to clearly be straight. There are plenty of men out there that would benefit from the technology offered in the underwear of many of the top brands, but consumers don’t typically go looking for something they don’t know exists. Maybe I am leading into another question here, but the way I see it, gay men provide a humongous consumer base for designer underwear brands, as do straight guys who “care”, so it’s not too difficult to think these brands like the exclusivity their products bring.

Tim: I think you are spot on with this observation. Right now the purchasing is by gay guys and women. But more and more guys are buying underwear. Which is an awesome thing. I think that blogs like ours and brands need to show guys what is out there in the world of underwear. It is a big area of market growth or any company who can reach that consumer. In an ideal world I’d love to go out on the street and give guys great pairs of underwear and have them try them. Because the truth is in the pudding as they say. Once you wear great undies you can’t imagine going back to anything else. One issue with having straight guys buying undies is the stigma that guys have that because you wear something out of the ordinary (brief, jock or thong) they get joked or branded that they are gay. This I think is one big barrier for guys who want to try undies from going out and getting them. An example of this is I had a reader years ago email me and say he had to get rid of his thongs because his then girlfriend said they were “gay.” I was like WHAT?

Tim: What would it take to get the word out to straight guys about underwear? What draws you to a brand? What Brands have you tried because of their advertising? Have you dealt with the stigma of being called or labeled gay?

Brandon: Well, as you know, I have written extensively about this topic on UNB. I think getting the word out is going to have to be incidental, maybe it’s a friend who sees me in the locker room at a pool in a pair of briefs and gets inquisitive. I think to a certain extent straight guys like myself need to be less shy and start evangelizing a bit. I have taken baby steps in that regard but I think that straight guys should be more vocal, because the bottom line is plenty of straight men out there would acknowledge that they’d like to be wearing better underwear, but as I kind of hinted at with my last answer, they just don’t know where to start.

I am rarely drawn to “the brand” because I am always interested in the style/color/overall look of a pair of underwear before I consider the brand. If I like the look of a certain brief that’s what draws me to any given pair. While this might be hard to believe, I don’t think a single ad has drawn me to a brand. I’ve always tried new things based on the look or the description of the individual pair. I was drawn to CK and 2(x)ist because of their reputation. I was drawn to Andrew Christian because initially-when he wasn’t nearly as famous, he described the “Anatomically Correct” pouch as built for men who were well endowed. That was before any of the homo-erotic videos or poster-ads became the brand’s M.O. but I can tell you if I were thinking about my first pair of A.C. briefs today, I’d be more apprehensive as a straight guy.

Sure, I’ve dealt with it in very limited terms. My dad is hypercritical of me and what I wear, look like, etc. He’s caught glimpses of my underwear from time to time and has been sure to never reserve comment. “That’s kind of gay” he’ll say but does so with sort of a smile on his face, as if he acknowledges his own status of being behind-the-times in his Jockey brand boxer shorts. Other than that, I’ve never had to deal with it really. That said, I am always conscious of “being caught” in my underwear by my friends etc because of the fear of being judged in that same way.

Underwear labels clearly don’t shy away from sexing up/playing into the gay-factor with their ads. Does the prevalence of designer underwear labels and the chiseled male models in their ad campaigns play any role in the gay male’s body image? (I know I’ve shied away from certain lines because I’ve had to pause and think, yeah that looks great on this guy with a 31″ waist, but I am too fat to pull it off…)

 To be continued….

We are starting a new segment here at UNB. The overall name will be Brief Talk. It will focus on real conversations about underwear. We will have staff members, brands, retailers and hopefully some readers have real and honest discussions about underwear. The first one will be a discussion with Brandon and myself. Our Reader Survey sexual orientation self identification grew for the straight category. We has only a few last year and this year prob about 15-20% self identified as straight. Which I think is an awesome thing, ALL guys need great undies regardless of sexual orientation. So Brandon and myself did a series of emails back and forth to talk about breaking down some myths of straight guys and underwear.

This is part one of the discussions and we will be running them on Sundays. The set up is there is a question asked, in bold, one replies and then asks a follow up question. We hope you enjoy this series.

Tim: Can you help shed some light on the underwear myth that straight guys just don’t wear “good” underwear? After doing the blog for almost 5 years there are many straight guys who love underwear…

Brandon: Well, since I speak for all straight men who care about their underwear…of course! To be honest, I would say this “myth” actually was a myth of some proportions up until about five years ago. I think it can be explained in two ways. First, straight men are starting to realize what gay men realized ages ago: the underwear you wear says a lot about you, and really can give you an identity. I definitely fall into that category. The second is the fact that Generation Y (or “The Millennials”) are much more open minded about everything and that means trying new and different things if they believe them to be catching on as a trend.

Brandon: Myth busted, but it sure doesn’t seem that way when you open up many websites. I’ve got a friend (also straight/married) who I have introduced to the new world of underwear, but had to stop short of my favorite brand because I wasn’t sure how he’d react to a video of a bunch of men grinding on each other when he opened the website. Do you see how much of the men’s underwear marketplace tends to ignore straight customers almost completely (minus UNB, of course)? Do you think brands could be doing more to market to straight men, and if so, how? 

Tim: I think marketing to gay consumers is easier. Its more accepted that you can have underwear ads be sexy and not offend the audience you are targeting. A prime example of this is the David Beckham’s H&M Super Bowl commercial. The ad barely featured the underwear, when the camera panned down it didn’t show his crotch. How can you sell something you don’t see! The main stream will let you show Victoria’s Secret models in next to nothing but when it comes to a guy, anything less then boxers is a no no. So I think many companies don’t want to venture in on this but they are definitely interested in marketing to the straight consumer. I have talked to many brands in the industry that say if they just sold to gay guys they wouldn’t be in business. I think you have to adjust the marketing strategy to straight guys. It’s been shown that most underwear is, over 70%, is bought buy women. So you can’t ignore what an impact they have on the purchasing decision. I think we are starting to see fundamental shifts in the way companies are marketing to consumers. Brands have to go where the customers are, be it gay, straight or bi. When they start to see straight guys and their girl friends and wives buying more the money will shift.

This shift is seeing in men’s magazines. Magazines like Details, Men’s Fitness and more are putting in underwear profiles for guys. Its going to take some time but I see the industry moving to encompass everyone. I don’t see it as a trend but more of a marketing shift. However, with that said there will always be brands that will target one sexuality over the other. It’s my opinion that Saxx is going after a “straighter” consumer. They are targeting the skater/snowboard, sports and outdoors kinds of guys.2(X)ist is another brand that I think targets the straight market as well. Their imagery features women and has sold in mainstream stores such as Macy’s and other big department stores.

So I think you will see more advertising to all consumers.

Tim: Brands I don’t think are are intentionally omitting straight guys. They are going where the sales are currently. As they see the dollar shift, which is happening right now, you will see advertising to all types of consumers. Let’s say we have you as the marketing manager of a big underwear brand. How would you bring awareness and sell underwear to a broader audience? What would be important?

To be answered Next week!