Another unusual deal to pass along: hair-grooming-vendor Wahl has purchased naming rights to Washington Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez‘s beard. That’s right: his beard.
It’s actually a brilliant move by Wahl Grooming, which markets a full line of facial hair trimmers. This is the first beard naming-rights deal we’ve encountered, and given that Gonzalez has a pretty noteworthy board, it’s a natural for both.
“On behalf of my beard, I accept this honor,” Gonzalez said in a press statement. “When I first heard that Wahl wanted to sponsor my beard, I was like, ‘you want to do what?’ But, I have to say it’s exciting to be the owner of the very first beard to ever get sponsored. Facial hair just fits my personality. For me, it’s about confidence, comfort and above all, sexiness.”
According to the terms of the deal, Gonzalez agrees to keep his beard well-groomed and conditioned and any reference to his beard—or its many accomplishments—must be preceded with “sponsored, or brought to you, by Wahl.”
“When you’re in the business of celebrating great facial hair like we are, it helps to have a compass,” said Steven Yde, vice president of consumer marketing for Wahl, the Official Sponsor of Facial Hair. “Identifying the top facial hair friendly city helps us to find and sponsor anti-clean-shaven ambassadors like Gio.”
The naming-rights deal comes at a time when Wahl Grooming also identified the most facial hair friendly places in the United States. On top of the list: Washington, D.C., followed by Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and Nashville. (You can see the top 50 list here. No, it doesn’t really matter what criteria were used.)
Image ©Lindsay King Photography/2015.