Chubbies thinks of its customers as relatable, aspirational guys. And this got them thinking, "Why can't these guys be the face of our brand?" Men, like women, are bombarded with a particular body type and aesthetic in advertising. But not every guy is a chiseled Adonis. Real guys come in more than one shape. Real guys come in dad bods, lanky bods, faux hawks, and grizzly beards. They're fathers, they're plumbers, they're math teachers, they're… anything, really. The objective of the 2018 Chubbies Man Model Search: To find these real guys and make them the face of the brand, whilst growing Chubbies' owned channels (social and email), aligning the brand with all types of diversity, generating a plethora of UGC for future social posts, and finding some badass new models.
Chubbies offered 10 winners of the competition a bonafide, two-year modeling contract, a lifetime supply of Chubbies shorts, and all-expenses-paid trips to exotic locations all over the world for photo and video shoots. Chubbies accepted applications within a three-week period from April to May, during which time they asked applicants to submit user generated content, a nickname, a hometown, and a catchphrase. Chubbies narrowed down more than 6,000 applicants to 100 semi-finalists who were asked to create video content to tell Chubbies in their own words why they deserved the gig. Chubbies then narrowed that group down to 20 finalists and then used 100 percent public voting to select the final 10 winners (or in this case 11 thanks to a tie for 10th). Chubbies utilized their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, email newsletter network, and website (a combined audience of 2 million+) to promote the contest website, to introduce the winners from the last Man Model search in 2015, and to highlight Chubbies' commitment to diversity. In order to cast a vote, people had to visit the Man Model mirco-site hosted at Chubbies.com, provide their email address, and follow Chubbies on Instagram.
CONTEST VIEWS: 3.4 million
VIDEO VIEWS ON SOCIAL CONTENT: 1.3 million
CONTEST VOTES: 334,000
CONTEST SHARES: 24,000
COMPLETED ENTRIES: 6,647
NEW EMAILS ACQUIRED: 37,000
EXPONENTIAL DAILY INSTAGRAM FOLLOWER GROWTH: 2X
FINALISTS: 20
AND FINALLY, 11 SUPER AWESOME AND DIVERSE WINNERS: https://www.chubbiesshorts.com/pages/man-model
