• by Todd Wasserman , October 27, 2021

Underwear ads typically talk about fit and support, but few, if any, have discussed one important element: odor. 

Duluth Trading Company is taking a different approach. New ads put odor front and center. “Funk no! underwear,” the ads read. “Discover a utopia free of funk.” 

 A cartoon contrasts the smell of average underwear (noses falling over amid downbeat music) with the smell of Duluth Funk No! underwear (noses happily dancing and sniffing).  

The ad, from Planet Propaganda, promotes the line, which boasts “an advanced anti-microbial copper technology that’s sure to keep the funk far from your junk.” 

The campaign comes as underwear odor has been a silent epidemic. A recent survey by underwear company Tommy John found that 45 percent of people said they don’t always change their underwear and 13 percent said they’ve gone a week or more in the same pair. 

While the odor from women’s underwear has gotten a lot of press lately, let’s not forget that men are repeat offenders as well.