Underwear, the inside story

Not that I haven't experienced it, but with age, I think, we start appreciating smaller things in life more.

And I must say that there are only few things in life that can match the happiness that a new snugly fit underwear can provide. While trying to collect data for blog, I visited this wiki page on undergarments. I realized the depth and breadth, the science and art of that humble piece of clothing.

I shall not try to get into it and will stick to the happiness part that a newly bought trunks gave me and my realization of how I have been buying a product based on brand equity rather than the merits. Now as you have learnt from the wiki page, there are undergarment for every occasion. I have been a boxer person for a very long time now. but after I took up tennis, my undergarment shopping list included trunks as well. Never brief, the reason for which for my own sake I will never even briefly provide.

Jockey has always been the brand of choice for boxers and when my shopping list expanded for the other type, the choice followed. Though I have bought other brands like Hanes, Crocodile and Tantex, I usually would go back to Jockey. My mind was conditioned. Recently, due to convenience of a store located on the drive back home coupled with absence of a Jockey shop, I bought Poomer trunks for tennis. Like a child who likes to wear a new dress with much awaited eagerness, I tried Poomer the very next day for my game of tennis.

The product was remarkable and I found great comfort. That was the trigger, I became inquisitive. I wondered if it was because I was trying a new brand hence Jockey trunk didn't feel as great or actually Poomer was a better product. Then, I immediately bought a Jockey trunk so that the experience is fresh and I could do a real experiential experiment.

Results? I must say Poomer, which is as affordable as Jockey, is definitely a better product than my brand of choice for boxers.

And here is how Poomer scores over Jockey in the following categories:

1. Price: At Rs. 150 and odd, the Jockey is slightly higher priced. But the difference is not too much. Actually, in my mind, I position Jockey to be more premium than Poomer. In fact I didn't expect the latter to be so highly priced.  

2. Elastic: The elastic in Poomer is the traditional old model meaning you can see it with the brand name inscribed on it. Padded with cloth inside, it does provide great comfort and hugs the waist (a rather large one of mine) well. Jockey on the other hand is not so loud, the elastic is clothed on both sides. It is important because many brands do not have the insides padded which leave a very strong impression on the tummy and even hurts. But certainly, the hug of Poomer is far superior than Jockey. In fact, I found the latter to be little slag.  
3. Comfort: The First Day Test can tell you a lot. If it gives you the best feel on day one, you can almost certainly be sure that it will feel good for a long time before diminishing returns sets in. You get this elated feeling, at least I get it with the good new one.
4. Fit: The problem with Jockey was not only the waist but also the legging (for want of another word). Both the elastic top and bottom leg parts roll down and up, respectively. This often causes irritation and discomfort.
5. Durability: I observed that in terms of life both brands last almost equally.

Isn't this a classic example of promotion over product. How a good product with promotion can be better positioned and how a better product without promotion may not achieve the same. Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe both the companies have clear segmentation strategy which is not clear to me.

Before I close, I thought I will register my quote here on this wonderful subject of "andar ka maamla"

Undergarments are like second skin, we shouldn't be aware of its presence. The moment we are reminded, it means there is a problem with it.