Hanes Breaks a 125-Year Taboo. Ulta Puts a Rapper in Charge of Fragrance

Marking its 125th anniversary, underwear brand Hanes has chosen the “awkward moments” it has long avoided in advertising as the central subject of its new work. The brand unveiled its new 'Get Comfortable' campaign, built around four comic yet somewhat daring scenarios, including a man whose pants are pulled down as a bar prank and a woman grocery shopping in her underwear. The logo has also been refreshed, with the brand’s signature red flag icon floating above the existing wordmark.

The lead spot, 'Keep Em On,' moves across an apartment floor strewn with clothing and ends by showing only the Hanes socks worn by a couple lying in bed. Directed by Nick Ball and shot on film, the campaign is also accompanied by an out-of-home ad in the New York subway, 'Très Cheek,' featuring a close-up rear view of a woman wearing red Hanes underwear. The campaign will run nationally across social, online video, retail, display, and other channels.

This rebrand is Hanes’ first major campaign since parent company HanesBrands was acquired late last year by rival Gildan Activewear for $2.2 billion (about 3 trillion won). It is also the first work from agency Special U.S.’s New York office under the new leadership of creative directors Kasia Canning and Estefanio Holtz, who joined in 2024.

Source · Retail Dive, "Hanes embraces risqué marketing in creative shakeup for basics brand"

Ulta Beauty’s first TikTok Shop livestream drew only 178,000 views. But its impressions reached 5.95 million, generating buzz well beyond the number of live viewers. Held on July 22, the broadcast unveiled rapper Ice Spice’s debut fragrance, 'In Ha Mood.'

After saying in its March earnings call that it would bring a curated assortment to TikTok Shop, Ulta carried out this livestream as the second phase of that plan. The broadcast was co-hosted by two TikTok creators: Michelle York, with 295,000 followers, and Kelsey Martinez, with 446,000 followers. Ulta merchandising VP Linda Suliafu explained that the collaboration was designed to create an exclusive moment that encourages consumer discovery and drives engagement.

The fragrance 'In Ha Mood' was developed through a partnership between Ice Spice and beauty giant Revlon, and is scheduled for an official launch in late summer. The scent opens with a sparkling queen royal accord, followed by floral notes of juicy pear, wild raspberry, rose, plum blossom, and magnolia. Amber Garrison, the incoming president of Revlon Fragrances and Elizabeth Arden, who is set to join in October, said consumer response is strongest when celebrities are directly involved in the fragrance development process.

Source · Glossy, "Exclusive: Ulta Beauty taps Ice Spice for its first TikTok Shop campaign to unveil the rapper's first fragrance"

RealSnap’s Lookbook Snap is a feature that combines clothing photos with AI model, pose, and mood references to create model outfit shots wearing those clothes. On the left side of the Snap screen, there are fields for selecting one Selected Model, one Pose Reference, and one Mood Reference, while the Clothes & Items field lets users upload clothing photos such as tops and bottoms and group them into a single outfit set. With additional Model Character options such as Hair, Lighting setting, and Emotional, plus a prompt window for describing the shooting situation in text, users can request different backgrounds and pose moods for the same clothes depending on the written instruction.

For fashion visual creators, this combination becomes useful when new products exist only as hanger shots or mannequin shots. Once the top and bottom are designated as one set, that combination remains fixed for each subsequent generation, allowing creators to produce multiple versions simply by changing the background and pose instructions.