• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 15, 2007

Philips Norelco is unleashing a sequel to its viral sensation--the Bodygroom video that promised men who groomed an "extra optical inch." Its new mockumentary is based on the early history of "manscaping," as modeled by some furry 1950s Coney Island guys.

Narrated by "Follicle" Phil Fontana, it tells the story of a character named Sack, who invented an unfortunate device known as the Tuft B-Gone. Hairy guys sprinted through the machine, and "after the scabs fell off," Phil says, "we'd grab a broad and a cold beer and call it a day."

Ads for the new video will appear online, especially on social networking sites.

When it launched its outrageous Bodygroom advertising last year (how many ads manage to rhyme "modem" with "scrotum"?) Philips Norelco created a brand new product category. And the company's shaveeverywhere.com attracted 2.2 million visitors in 2006, following its May introduction.

While a spokesperson for the company won't say how many of the shavers have been sold so far, she confirms that Bodygroom quickly became Philips Norelco's second-best-selling grooming product, representing 25% of dollar sales for 2006, selling almost triple its initial projections.

"We knew that one out of two men trimmed body hair below their neck," she says, "and that there was no product to help them. But it still surprises us that this pushed the whole manscaping topic into the mainstream. Because the first video had done so well, and became the 16th-most-downloaded comedy video on YouTube, we wanted to follow up in the same format. We wanted something men could really engage with."

Of course, men might be a little too engaged: A quick tour of YouTube turns up plenty of homemade "How to shave your testicles" videos. Be careful out there.