Shwood

Shwood

This is the kind of brand that I'd normally be really guarded about. I got a pair of sunglasses made of rosewood for my birthday last year and I get my fair share of compliments on them. Even when people don't say anything, I can tell they notice those shades. Not the type of thing you want the average DC prepster to catch onto. Anyways, I ended up breaking my pair last spring and the guys at Shwood were so cool about fixing them for me that I have to give them some love on the blog. Also, they have great marketing so I shouldn't try and keep them a secret (not that it's up to me anyways.)

This is a cool video, they started to build a tree fort out near Mt. Hood and they provide you with the coordinates so if you feel up for it, you can go hand out there and add on to it. 

Experiment No. 2 - Backcountry Nest from Shwood Eyewear on Vimeo.

Patagonia Common Threads Initiative

I don't typically ride for Patagonia because I think most their clothing is over branded. I guess people that spend a lot of money on sweats like to have lots of labels. Snarkiness aside, they do have some corporate initiative when it comes to corporate responsibility. One thing I'm excited about, from a marketing perspective, is their Common Threads Initiative.

Basically, Patagonia helping people sell, and buy, old Patagonia gear on Ebay. They think it will reduce waste, which may be true. What I find intriguing is that Patagonia is making a bold statement about the quality of the gear. If it's good enough to be sold second-hand, it's probably pretty good stuff, (especially new.) The funny thing is that you might that it would hurt sales of new products but I actually really doubt it. I think people that buy new and used Patagonia stuff come from two totally different market segments. Anyways, I'll definitely have a look.

Red Wing shows off its Workhorse

This is the kind of the new old thing. When you make things the old-fashioned way with care and precision, you tend to have some special machinery. Showing off your connection with the machinery is a convincing way to show that you are for real with this. It's also just a great way to talk about how much you care without actually talking about yourselves.

Self Edge just made kind of a deal of the fact that they finally tracked down a chainstitcher that they'd been trying to track down for years. It's pretty cool.

Red Wing is a little bit beyond that though. They've got a fleet of classics that they've used for years. They also just made a great video about it, The Puritan Stitch Machines. It's a nice and sincere video about what the machine can do. The narrator is totally a guy from the floor and you can easily tell that this is no bullshit. I mean I already wanted a pair of Red Wings so maybe they are preaching to the choir but I hope this video inspires some other consumers.

Why does deodorant have to be so corny?

I just ran out of deodorant the other day and buying a new stick is a bigger decision than you would think. They make these sticks so big that I think I only need a new one like every 10 months. With that said, it's a small purchase that you make every 10 months but it sticks with you, literally, everyday. Obviously branding is important here. But what about guys like me that are a little turned off by trying too hard to be masculine in everything I buy and do.

To be honest, it's hard. Deodorant packaging and branding is god-awful. It's all got to be uber-manly so much so that I'm hesitant to be seen in the checkout line with some of these brands. Cases in point

Speed stick used to be my go to brand. The regular scent. My dad wears it and I always used it until I noticed they put grips on the edges. Grips? Why do I need grips on my deodorant stick? My life is so action packed that I put my deodorant on under extreme duress? Using this helps me understand what guys must feel like when they wear mandals.

Seriously Old Spice? You used the word Swagger on this label? Way to ruin a perfectly good word for everyone. It was fun to say "swag" but now it feels cheap and bought. Then it's got to be from the Red Zone Collection. Deodorant collection? Even if you hadn't just ruined the word swagger, that's just dumb.

It's the Mountain Dew meets Newport Cigarettes meets some vague aspirational feat of masculine accomplishment meets my armpits. Everest Adrenaline Series. Cool story bro.

I'll have to reach out to the brothers on what they think about deodorant called Dark Temptation. This one's not going to work for me though.

Well it could obviously be worse. I do like the 48 hour protection touch. Like maybe I'm going to get laid on a weeknight and have to roll to office the next day without a fresh coat of deodorant. Glad Dove is behind me on this one but everyone is going to notice my wrinkled clothes and look of shame.