Mario Lopez – Underwear News Briefs

In Men's Underwear

We Need an Underwear Hero

September 8, 2013 5 Comments

We need a hero. A hero that is a champion for men’s underwear. We are at a point where men’s underwear is going mainstream. Meaning over the last few years more guys gay and straight have been paying attention to underwear. Heck, we have more underwear companies then anytime I can remember in the history of underwear.

When I say we need a champion, I mean we need a spokes model for men’s underwear. A famous athlete, actor or entertainer that will step up and show the public that great men’s underwear is here to stay.

In the 70s and 80s we had Jim Palmer sporting Jockey bikinis in mainstream magazines. They used to run in People and I think Newsweek. For those of you not familiar with Mr. Palmer, he was a Major League Baseball star with Midwest all American looks. Having such a sports star in an underwear ad gave men’s underwear a sort of legitimacy and not put on some back page ads.

Flash-forward about 10 years and we have Marky Mark aka Mark Walberg in Calvin Klein boxer briefs. The newest hybrid style of the day. This ad was even featured in Times Square in NYC. This was the last time we had a major market campaign featuring a celebrity. It’s time for a new underwear hero

This came about due to a conversation I had with @ undieluvr on twitter. Her suggested that Underarmour create a sports thong and have an athlete promote it. It got me thinking that we need this for all undies. It’s time to bring great undies to the masses. Showing a major celebrity in them will only do this.

We currently have stars promoting underwear. The ones stars are David Beckham, Mario Lopez and Tim Tebow.

David Beckham is no stranger to promoting underwear. He’s done several shoots for Armani before he started his own line at H&M. His line is called David Beckham Bodywear and is available exclusively at H&M Retailers. Also this was one of the first men’s underwear Super Bowl commercials.
Mario has endorsed his own line Rated M. The line has been out a few years. Unlike David Beckham’s line, Rated M is available at many online and brick and mortar retailers. It has been around for about two years.
Tim Tebow was the spokes person for Jockey. He was to be the new Jim Palmer, but he was never photographed in the Underwear. This was brought up to Jockey and they said they were fine with him not wearing the underwear in ads. His announcement had the most comments on our Facebook page.

We need to have a guy come out of the underwear closet and say that they LOVE underwear. It doesn’t matter if he’s a sports star, Movie star or entertainer.

It makes me think who would be the perfect guy for the job. It would need to be someone mainstream to catch the attention of the general public and making them consider buying great undies. Some suggestions would be

Singer – Adam Levine – Lead Singer for Maroon5. He’s no stranger to getting naked and showing skin
Athlete – Eli Manning – The QB for the NY Giants. He’s got the wholesome look of Jim Palmer and a personality that could be great on camera
Actor – Matt Bomer – He’s been in Magic Mike so he’s been seen in underwear on film. He wore a thong in Magic Mike
Athlete – Michael Phelps – The Olympic gold medalist swimmer. He’s been seen in Speedos for millions on TV and is comfortable in them
Athlete – Colin Kaepernick – The Super Bowl QB for the San Francisco 49’ers who just appeared nude in the ESPN Magazine body issue.

These are just a few suggestions. I would love to hear who you guys think we should have as our Underwear Spokesman? Who has the body and the personality to speak the virtues of men’s undies?

In Jockey

Tim Tebow Won’t Strip to his Jockeys

February 5, 2012 No Comments

One of the most controversial announcements in the world of men’s underwear was when Jockey announced Tim Tebow was going to be their spokesperson. Our Facebook page lit up with tons of comments. Most were saying that they would never buy Jockey until he was no longer spokes person.

The Hollywood Reporter ran a post this week that Tim has refused to strip down for Jockey. That meaning he would not be photographed just in his underwear. Jockey claims that the sales since Tebow took over have increased. However, can you sell underwear without actually being photographed in the brand?

Jockey is no stranger to hiring athletes to promote their undies. The first I remember is Jim Palmer. He was a pitcher for the Baltimore Oriels in the 70’s/80’s. His ads just about always featured him in bikini briefs. Which is one of the reasons I got bikinis back in the day. He was not shy and his ads became iconic in the world of men’s underwear.

Flash forward about 30 years. Today we have two “celebrities” with their own underwear lines. They are David Beckham and Mario Lopez, both we have covered here before. Neither one has been shy to strip down. David Beckham has promoted many underwear companies. He is no stranger to being shot in just his undies.

Mario Lopez is a new comer to the world of underwear. He has promoted his brand on his show “Extra.” This coverage showed him at the photo shoot and talking about the new line. The most recent was when Ellen made him drop his pants on his show, and then Ellen stripped him down (See our post featuring the Mario/Ellen Video).

Neither of these guys is being shy about showing off their brands. This got me thinking, if you hire someone to be a spokesperson for and Underwear Company, should they be required to strip down? Should Tebow keep his endorsement? What do you think?

It is my opinion that if I hire someone to be my spokesperson, I want him to be shot in the undies. Not just talk about them and be shot in T-shirts.

In Bodywear Collection Underwear

Men’s Underwear Taking a Turn?

January 7, 2012 No Comments

When I first started this blog three years ago, men’s underwear wasn’t what I would consider main stream. It was still for the fashion conscious guy and not the every day guy. Then 2(x)ist introduced the Evolve line at Target and we got to see more and more underwear hitting the mass market. That is underwear you don’t buy in a three pack.

In the last few months we have had some big names enter the underwear market. The to guys that are turning men’s undies into mainstream are David Beckham and Mario Lopez

The first is David Beckham, granted he’s no stranger to the world of underwear. He previously modeled Emporio Armani with his wife, Victoria Beckham. Now, David has stepped into role of designer with the Bodywear Collection for H&M. The initial collection will feature 9 different styles. H&M Says:

Designed by David’s in-house team and sold exclusively at H&M, the focus is on fit, function, comfort and design, avoiding overt branding to present a range of new classics, comprising of briefs, boxers, vests, T-shirts, pyjamas and long johns. The result of eighteen months of research and development, the collection aims to set a new standard in men’s bodywear for the 21st century.

The Bodywear collection will be available February 2, at all 1,800 H&M stores. This, if you haven’t gathered is an exclusive just to H&M

The next guy bringing men’s underwear to the attention of the masses is actor Mario Lopez. Which I will say I didn’t expect, so when I was told he was doing an underwear line, I was like “Huh?” But it makes sense he’s has always been a body conscious guy. When we first saw him on Saved by the Bell, he was the jock and then after he’s always been one to try and look good.

We covered this a few weeks back and to refresh your memory Freshpair.com said to us:

I got a chance to talk to them this past week. They told me the line is going to start off conservative but after the first of the year it will expand. Which is a smart thing to do. This is what we were told – “The prices range from $18 – $29 (briefs being $18, trunks $20, and shirts going up to $29). They are contemporary basics and come in red, blue, white, black, and gray. There are several lines, but the Elementary line will be the initial launch with others to follow early next year.”

This line is only available at Freshpair.com.com and is currently being sold.

We have a super start of sports and an actor/entertainment reporter both come out with underwear lines within two months of each other. We have some questions for you:

What do you think of these two lines?
Which star of stage, screen or field (aka actor, singer or sports start) would you like to see come out with a line of underwear?
Do you think we will see more male celebrities endorse/design underwear?

It’s great to see men’s underwear hit the main stream!

In Fresh Pair

Rated M Undewear – New Line from Mario Lopez

December 3, 2011 No Comments

There is a new addition into the world of underwear! That person is Mario Lopez. Unlike Marky Mark, David Beckham and others, Mario is now an underwear designer. His new line is called Rated M. He says the M Stands for Masculine, Modern, Mario or what ever you what it to stand for.

The line is only available at FreshPair.com right now! It is an exclusive for them. I got a chance to talk to them this past week. They told me the line is going to start off conservative but after the first of the year it will expand. Which is a smart thing to do. This is what we were told – “The prices range from $18 – $29 (briefs being $18, trunks $20, and shirts going up to $29). They are contemporary basics and come in red, blue, white, black, and gray. There are several lines, but the Elementary line will be the initial launch with others to follow early next year.”

I personally love the bright blue. Yes, the styling maybe conservative but the colors aren’t the typical colors. It will be very interesting to see the new line they will do in a few months. Below are some pics for you to see as well. We will bring you even more about this line as we hear about it and more from FreshPair.com