Can Hanes' COVID Tighty Whities Get Men into Masks?

@tomsommers1

I'd gone into a North Carolina, Home Depot one recent Monday morning while it was slow after the weekend. I wanted to fetch cleaning supplies that are easier to find outside DC's smaller retail spaces. And I go hog wild with errands when I've rented a car for a weekend trip.

So when I spotted the familiar orange of The Home Depot (HD) across from my Durham hotel, I wanted to go inside - masked - and search for the unfindable Clorox wipes. It's also fun to go inside and experience what's new in home decor and tools. There's something tantalizing about that fresh-lumber scent, the BBQ grills, and the tools. My in-person, non-food shopping has been rare since Marchuary.

I walked into the orange box, adjusting my eyes from the outdoor sun, and scanned for the dangling CLEANING sign. Aha, of course, straight back from the main entrance. So I strolled to the aisle, amazed by the number of shelves and products. The hand-sanitizers have exploded into SKUs by container type, gels, sprays, and scents. Alas, no Clorox wipes (no surprise).

With spray sanitizer in hand and luck on my side, I asked one of the many (surprise!) salespeople about masks. I figured they too would be a Clorox-wipe dream.

The petite, fifty-something woman in blue-framed eyeglasses and orange apron smiled and said, "Why, oh, yes, we have masks ... let me show you." She practically held my hand to guide me toward the front entrance. And there, sitting between the shiny grills and the self-checkout registers, sat a black/red kiosk filled to the brim with Hanes' cloth masks. At last, before my eyes after searching DC for months in vain, mask nirvana.

I hadn't considered this combo - the century old, trusted Hanes brand of tighty whitie underwear with similarly crafted, soft cotton masks. Smart.

The Marketing Pivot

Masks from Hanes. Who would've thunk it? In my brand mind, Hanes means t-shirts and tighty whitie briefs. That's it. End of story.

These masks are a case of Hanes pivoting to the pandemic by using its engineering and design, reading the market, and quickly creating a new product. There was no pandemic then - yet this is similar to Proctor & Gamble using its shopper-insights data and feminine-protection engineering to create the Swiffer broom and disposable sheets. P&G also used this approach to create the Crest Whitestrips in the early '00s. The difference is P&G had years, not months, to launch their innovations.

As I muffled my surprise, I wandered from the kiosk and deeper into the aisles for disposable masks. I was pressed for time and wanted to stock up on anything related to pandemic life. The disposables were staring me in the face, so I grabbed them. Carting my hand-sanitizer, disposable and cloth masks, I nearly jogged to the checkout counter with my treasures.

This HD tour reminded me of the giddy parents dancing with their Staples carts to gather supplies for their back-to-school kids.

The Male Ego

As I left The Home Depot, I recalled my shopper-insights work. Something about the Hanes/HD-experience sparked my brain to popcorn with ideas from past branding experiences.

What if ... people's hesitation, especially men's, to wear masks ... is about what the mask does to/means for their self image? Are men uncomfortable wearing a mask because it makes them feel less masculine or somehow sinister? Does it seem like, dressing up, for Halloween?

Is it the masked image, not the politics, that halts men from donning a piece of cloth over their faces?

In some circles, a mask can heighten masculinity and be hyper-sexual - especially when the mask is of silk or leather. A light blue, paper-ish or white mask, doesn't fit that category.

Considering men hesitate to ask for help (or traffic directions), makes it plausible that covering their faces and potentially diminishing their image, is a reason for non-compliance. Coincidentally, there was a recent study (I didn't see until five days after HD) supporting this idea:

Traits like “self-reliance, individualism, strength and courage” are stereotypically associated with masculinity, and in the eyes of many American men, “wearing a mask runs counter to most of those traits,” Owens said.*

Men don't like to admit needing support; defeat; being out of control; questioning their manliness/sexuality. Men can be fragile.

The researchers polled 2,459 U.S. participants and found that men were more likely to opt out of wearing masks, believing them to be “shameful,” “a sign of weakness,” and “not cool” — in spite of the data showing that men are at higher risk than women of dying from a coronavirus infection.**

Applause for HD and Hanes

So IF there's something wimpy about wearing a mask, can Hanes and Home Depot make it more manly to ask for, purchase and wear a mask? Can this dynamic duo make it okay to don the mask? Regardless of the millions of healthcare workers who wear masks each and everyday, there remains a mental barrier for men to cross and be okay with it.

Hanes' masks are available at Home Depot, so their respective marketing teams know there's overlap in their male-shopper profiles. Who is the Hanes underwear "wearer" and the HD shopper? Whether it's similarities in education, income, car preferences, home ownership, social-media, brand preferences, the likenesses exist.

There are similarities between the men who go to Home Depot and those who wear Hanes underwear.

Surprisingly, there are also likely similarities between the women who shop at HD and who buy the Hanes' products for their husbands/partners. In select consumer-product categories, it's the women (not men) who primarily shop for and buy men's items. Women are influencers and purchasers. Men generally don't like to shop, let alone for mundane, household-type/personal-care items.

Innovation

The Home Depot/Hanes partnership presents a timely market pivot and innovation case. When your brand/product has historically served one main benefit, there can be unexpected, timely opportunities to pivot, innovate and meet new demand just by searching through your engineering wheelhouse (or for individuals, your talents).

Hanes and HD can implicitly lead the 'Rona fight. By communicating that it's a manly choice vs. a weak one to wear a soft, comfortable mask, Hanes and its retail partners are supporting the healthcare system and meeting shoppers' needs. Brilliant!

Thank you for reading and for masking-up.

Tom Sommers is a Washington, DC-based marketing writer and data analyst with success in branding for global F500 and startup firms. There's no direct affiliation with Hanes or The Home Depot.

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