Gary Lineker’s weekend TV striptease is a social media win for underwear brand Sunspel
Sports broadcaster Gary Lineker lost a bet over the weekend and stripped down to his skivvies on British TV. The moment was an instant hit on Twitter, where his fans when went into a frenzy.
But the host of “Match of The Day” wasn’t the only winner on social media. Underwear brand Sunspel, which makes the £30 ($38) cotton boxer shorts, scored too.
According to Sunspel, the niche brand saw its Instagram following boosted by 1 percent. Its own post about Gary Lineker was its third most-liked ever, while the hashtag #garyspants received 45 percent more engagement than its usual hashtags.
The stunt came after Lineker, an ex-footballer, promised to strip down to his undies on the show if his team, Leicester FC, won the 2016 Premier League. Leicester claimed the title in May after beating odds 5,000-1. He made good on his promise during the Saturday night broadcast on BBC One.
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According to data from Brandwatch, the #garyspants hashtag had a total of 8,860 Twitter mentions over the weekend. A tweet from the BBC show saw over 17,000 likes and over 15,000 retweets. While Lineker’s own post — which name checked Sunspel — racked up over 36,000 likes on Instagram.
He is a man of his word… #MOTD #garyspants https://t.co/vFw3kWFiWA
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) August 13, 2016
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In response, Sunspel updated its homepage with, you guessed it, white cotton boxers. While size XXL is sold out, the brand declined to reveal if sales had seen a boost.
The brand was started in 1860, but it is best-known for bringing boxer shorts from the U.S. to the U.K. market in 1947. As a small-scale retailer, it manufactures all its garments from its factory in Long Eaton, in the north of England.
But while the the boxers were a hit with many, some Twitter remained unmoved by Lineker’s stunt, suggesting he didn’t live up to the, well, brief.
Now I don’t like to split hairs BUT we were promised these…Not oversized shorts @GaryLineker #MOTD #garyspants pic.twitter.com/PPDEiDNHKC
— Natalie Pinkham (@NataliePinkham) August 13, 2016
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