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Changing underwear, a man at a time
By Diego Vasquez
Jul 29, 2007 - 7:50:18 PM

One of life’s eternal questions, one most folks will go to great lengths to avoid asking, is just how often do men change their underwear, really?

This has been a particularly vexing question for Hanes, which makes men's underwear, among other things, and it appears it had already concluded not so often when it launched a nationwide tour called the ComfortZone Tour.

There are tours and there are tours, but there is none quite like this one. Think of it as a rescue mission of sorts.

On its stops, Hanes Comfort Girls run out into the crowd and round up young men. The men are led to booths and given fresh, brand-new Hanes underwear, Hanes ComfortSoft boxers. Leaving the booths, the young turn over their old underwear, which are then sealed in a bag labeled “toxic waste” and placed in an “environmental hazard” receptacle.

This is all for laughs, of course. "We’re out to change as many pairs of underwear as possible,” says David McBride, director of brand marketing for Hanes. “Literally.”

The first leg of the tour kicked off on June 18 and ends on Aug. 13, with many of the stops in the Atlanta and Charlotte markets. McBride says the tour will likely be in California later this summer and other yet-to-be-determined states in the fall.

Besides showing up at big events like baseball games, auto races and concerts, the Comfort Girls also perform daily “random acts of comfort,” appearing at fire stations, softball tournaments, colleges and other places guys hang out, giving away samples.