Mack Weldon: "Stain-resistant pants. Because that dollar slice came with two of the thinnest little napkins in history.”

Circus Maximus, an independent creative shop that works with startups as well as companies that straddle legacy and digital brand positioning, announced the launch of a new campaign for Mack Weldon, a direct-to-consumer brand known for reinventing men’s essentials.

Mack Weldon launched in 2012 with a clear mission to reinvent men's basics through technical innovation and smart design. Since debuting with its core offering of underwear, socks, and T-shirts, Mack Weldon has become a leading menswear brand, expanding to include everyday essentials such as sweats, swimwear, dress shirts, outerwear, activewear, accessories and beyond. Driven by modern styling and technical function, every Mack Weldon product is designed to elevate a man’s wardrobe and take the pain away from buying quality men’s essentials.

For the brand’s fall OOH campaign, Circus Maximus conceived “Proven in NYC; Available Everywhere,” a concept inspired by Mack Weldon’s technologically perfected men’s basics that are stress-tested in one of the most challenging places on earth: New York City. Because if your clothes can make it here, they can make it anywhere.

“When designing our products, whether a pair of moisture-wicking underwear or a thermoregulating cashmere sweater, we’re always thinking about how they complement the busy lives of our customers—in NYC and beyond,” said Brian Berger, founder and CEO of Mack Weldon. “New York is our home, and we’re excited to see our ads in the city’s iconic subway system.”

The campaign will run exclusively in the New York City subway system and consists of 16 different pieces of creative paying homage to the city it was born out of. Four of the ads feature a different pair of men’s boxer-briefs against a blue backdrop with accompanying copy that reads, “Mack Weldon. If we can make it comfortable here, we can make it comfortable anywhere.” The line is a play on a lyric from the famous song, “New York, New York,” which promises, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.” Smaller print, framed inside “track lines” reminiscent of Massimo Vignelli’s original subway map, point to the garment’s additional attributes and functionality.

To capture the tone of New York City while highlighting Mack Weldon products, the eight other executions follow a similar design treatment paired with NYC-centric copy lines, including:
• “Bagel and lox. Empire State Building. Neighbors who mind their own business. Our underwear is just another thing this city is good for.”
• “Anti-odor underwear. For when your Thursday night date lasts till Friday morning.”
• “Shirts so comfortable, you’ll forget you just paid $17 for a salad.”
• “Stain-resistant pants. Because that dollar slice came with two of the thinnest little napkins in history.”
“The ads we created are a functional map of our technology, navigating people to the right Mack Weldon tech-enhanced basics to perform in the world’s least hospitable place,” said Ryan Kutscher, chief creative officer of Circus Maximus. “So, we’re educating and entertaining people who are feeling the pain while reading about our solutions.”

The OOH campaign runs in-market until just before Thanksgiving.

Circus Maximus has worked on creative projects for Mack Weldon since the beginning of 2019.