Objective

As a leading manufacturer of hair clippers and facial hair trimmers, Wahl Clipper Corporation has long supported those who groom — and that includes supporting those who groom for good. To bring awareness to the fact that grooming tools in the right hands can be a powerful thing, Hoffman York worked with Wahl to establish an annual Cuts for a Cause initiative. The program offers financial support, product donations, and grooming services to a variety of worthy causes. In 2025, Cuts for a Cause supported hundreds of homeless and at-risk veterans during the Southeastern Michigan Veterans Stand Down Event. Wahl’s participation in the event aimed to:

• Increase awareness of Wahl's charitable efforts, and the launch of Wahl’s new ANTHEM™ Series, a collection of hair clippers where sales contribute to keeping the Cuts for a Cause initiative going strong.
  • The objective was to exceed results YoY by 20% more impressions and 5% more social engagements.

Strategy

Strategy

For the last several years, the Wahl Cuts for a Cause initiative has spread goodwill and good grooming by offering financial support, product donations, and grooming services to a variety of worthy causes.

The annual initiative seeks organizations or individuals who use grooming to enhance lives, whether it’s free haircuts for underserved children or head-shaving events that bring awareness to cancer research.

In addition to bringing attention to Wahl’s philanthropic efforts, the Cuts for a Cause initiative was a vehicle to support the launch of the ANTHEM™ Series, a collection of hair clippers where a portion of the sales contribute to keeping the Cuts for a Cause initiative going strong.

Execution

On Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, the Cuts for a Cause initiative partnered with the Southeastern Michigan Veterans Stand Down Event, where hundreds of homeless and at-risk veterans gathered for amenities such as food, clothing, health screenings and counseling services. Wahl contributed by parking its mobile barbershop at the event, and for every FREE haircut or beard trim donated $100 to support the charity.

Hoffman York knew adding a celebrity to the activation would bring added excitement, so they used the Sprout Social Influencer Marketing tool to research a parter who was native to Detroit and had a predominantly male social following with high engagement. Hoffman York identified NBA Hall of Famer, Chris Webber as the right fit with the Wahl target.

Webber’s hometown-hero persona resonated strongly with veterans. He also attracted local media outlets to the event for rich editorial content, and recap videos from the event were shared as Instagram collabs with @WahlGrooming. These videos resonated positively with his large social media following.

Results

The Wahl Cuts for a Cause initiative delivered exceptional results:

• 549 million total impressions, exceeding the original goal of a 20% increase YoY — more than doubling results YoY.
  • (3) major TV networks aired the story for a total of (12) segments.
  • The WXYZ-TV (ABC) segment was syndicated on Yahoo for 390 million impressions.
• 20,000 social engagements, counting likes, comments, saves and shares—exceeding the original goal of a 5% increase YoY, and achieving a 12% increase YoY.
• (52) veteran haircuts, and hundreds of donated grooming supplies, and a $5,000 donation check to the charity.

Media