Roses are red, violets are blue, give Manscaped as a gift for Valentine’s Day, and he’ll say … um, maybe I'll wait for the stock instead.
Or maybe not.
The men’s grooming startup backed by Hollywood actor Channing Tatum will be going public sometime before the end of March. The special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, merger will create the biggest U.S. publicly traded company focused exclusively on below-the-belt grooming for men.
It's a big, ballsy bet that men -- and their partners -- want less hair down there, and will pay up for it, a story that co-founders Paul Tran and Steve King sold to Shark Tank sharks Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban in 2018, when they convinced the duo to give them $500,000 for 7% of the company.
Since that time, Manscaped has been growing and expanding its core focus of saving men from hairy situations -- not to mention helping reduce the stigma of talking about male privates and some pretty serious things like testicular cancer.
The question is: Do men really want or feel the need to shave down there, and if they do will they make it a permanent habit like millions of women around the world?
A Manscaped Sack, er, SPAC. What's a SPAC?`
Founded in 2016, Manscaped’s mission is to “address all of men’s self-care needs." In the past 12 months, it has generated $285 million in revenue, a figure it expects to grow to more than $500 million in 2023.
The company said in November that it was going public by merging with blank-check firm Bright Lights Acquisition, a deal valuing the company at $1 billion.
SPACs, or blank-check companies, are formed for the express purpose of finding and merging with an operating partner. The idea is to speed the operating company to the public markets and avoid the extended process of a traditional initial public offering.
And now Manscaped is prepping to go public – with an ‘L’ – when it finalizes its deal with Bright Lights and begins trading on the Nasdaq sometime before the end of the first quarter under the ticker symbol MANS.
Is There a Market for Manscaping?
Manscaped is all about marketing to a segment of the population that until more recently didn’t think much about personal grooming beyond shaving – one’s face, that is – and a quick swipe of deodorant under each arm.
The company says it produces a diversified line of “precision-engineered tools, unique formulations, and accessories that are intelligently designed to introduce and elevate a whole new self-care routine.”
Manscaped’s mission is to “help men level up and be the best version of themselves.”
On a bigger level, it is looking to capitalize on normalizing what has long been a sensitive and taboo subject: men actually caring to take care of themselves.
With products that include The Lawn Mower, The Weed Wacker, The Crop Shaver, and The Plow, Manscaped lays claim to sparking fresh conversations and redefining the $70 billion global men’s grooming industry by making it natural for men to think about shaping, grooming, or outright removing their body hair.
Manscaped Targets a Growing Grooming Category
And it’s a massive industry.
In its first Super Bowl spot since 2006, Procter & Gamble-owned (PG) GilletteLabs on Sunday introduced its first Exfoliating Bar shaver targeted to men who even before the pandemic were letting their facial hair grow.
Being targeted by Madison Avenue to adapt to societal norms is nothing new for women.
Gillette unveiled the first women's razor in 1915, dubbed the Milady Décolleté, complete with its own rose velvet packaging. The first electric razor for women was released by Remington in 1940.
Fast forward through the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, and models embracing hairless armpits and bikini lines quickly became the ideal beauty standard for women.
Throughout, men were encouraged to focus on just one area -- the face -- and were marketed to accordingly.
Do The Gronk and Channing Tatum Manscape?
And while the aughts, ‘10s, and now ‘20s have ushered in a smoother, less-hairy male esthetic thanks to changing perceptions and ideologies about gender and manhood, it remains a relatively taboo subject.
“[We] have a firm belief that here at Manscaped that as millennials and Gen-Z males get older, manscaping becomes a socially required grooming habit,” Founder and Chief Executive Paul Tran said at the 2022 ICR Conference for communications professionals, held in January. “It’s becoming ingrained in the fabric of our society. Women led the way and now men are following.”
Indeed they are. Manscaped has launched in 38 countries with international sales tracking with its successful U.S. trajectory. The focus is not just on the hardware but on all the other stuff guys need to keep their nether regions clean: creams, lotions and even a floor mat to catch the hair.
The company’s products can be found in the likes of Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), and Macy’s. And of course, they’re readily available online for any guy who thinks browsing for hair-removal products in a store is akin to shopping for condoms.
Who Owns Manscaped?
Last month Manscaped launched its Ultra Premium Collection, venturing beyond the groin with a kit that features "...a variety of expertly designed grooming products to keep you clean from head-to-toe."
And then there’s the power of persuasion. Manscaped has established high-profile partnerships with dozens of professional athletes, including Rob “The Gronk” Gronkowski and Alex Caruso, and with sports organizations that include UFC, Nascar and the San Francisco 49ers.
And Magic Mike, a.k.a. Channing Tatum, of course, who is an investor as well as creative content partner. Plus Shark Tank's Lori and Mark, who as of last June still owned a 7% stake. Manscape was founded by Tran and King, as well as King's son Josh.
“In the future you are not going to remember that Manscaped started out in the groin,” said Tran. “You'll just know that Manscaped is the leading brand in men's self-care.”
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