This week, we launched a new men’s underwear marketing campaign starring basketball great Michael Jordan in a new television commercial that shows Hanes Lay Flat Collar undershirts will never suffer from wavy “bacon necks” like other shirts.

“Bacon Neck” is the first of two television spots and highlights the worn and wavy shape the collar of an old undershirt takes on over time. The spot features Michael Jordan on a plane sitting next to Rick who is perturbed by a fellow passenger who keeps looking in their direction. Rick, now established as a clueless-yet-amusing seat mate, jokes about the man’s undershirt. Rick whispers to Michael to check out the man’s “bacon neck,” describing his undershirt collar as “all curled up like bacon in the pan.” Rick references how he and Michael – much to Michael’s amusement – look like twins in their “Lay Flats.” The humorous spot and the bacon neck terminology reinforce that no matter how many times you wear it, Hanes Lay Flat Collar Undershirts won’t stretch or take on a wavy shape. A voice-over concludes with, “the Lay Flat Collar. Lays flat. Won’t bacon. Only from Hanes.”

Make sure to check out the clip on our YouTube channel where you can also view additional content that won’t be seen on air. Let us know what you think and hope everyone has a great weekend!

For every qualifying redemption of Hanes product purchases, the Arbor Day Foundation, which works to replant trees in America’s national forests that have been damaged by fire, insect or disease, will plant a tree on behalf of Hanes and its consumers, up to 20,000 trees.

Our consumer promotion and alliance with the Arbor Day Foundation come just in time for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 and National Arbor Day on April 30. We hope you’ll visit http://www.hanesgreen.com to learn more about our environmental responsibility efforts along with sharing your own tips for making more responsibility environmental decisions.

 What small steps do you take to be a more environmentally responsible person in your everyday activities?  Make sure to comment here or visit our new site to share your own tips with others.

 You can also click here for additional information.

 Hanes Better-fitting socks commercial

For more information on Better-Fitting socks and other comfortable Hanes products, make sure to visit  www.hanes.com!

Have you had a chance to check out the site?  We’d love your feedback on the pink collection of products and the Passionately Pink for the Cure^® T-shirt Design Competition, where one grand-prize winner will receive  a $250 Hanes gift card, a screen-printed copy of the winning T-shirt design and a $5,000 donation in the grand-prize winner’s name to the winner’s choice of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® local Affiliate or Komen Global Headquarters.

How are you getting involved in the fight against breast cancer this year?  Do you have photos from a recent race or shirts you’ve designed with your friends?  Feel free to upload your photos and videos of support!

Below are some finalists from the Passionately Pink for the Cure^® T-shirt Design Competition, enjoy!

Mark came to Hanes asking for one thing, socks. Socks, as Mark vividly explained, are like GOLD and often the most single requested item following food. We were happy to help Mark and have followed his every step on his Invisible People blog. Stories like Angela’s and daily photos like these continue to inspire us and we’re lucky to have been introduced to such a stand-up guy like Mark and his cause.

Follow the last leg of Mark’s roadtrip here.

We’re excited to have a way to speak directly to you about Hanes and, more importantly, offer you a place to speak directly to us.

Hanes product development is based in consumer insight and the ever-evolving social media space offers us the perfect platform to share our news and get your thoughts.

So take a look around and let us know what you think. And don’t forget to check back often … we have a lot to talk about!

Do you plan to support the fight against breast cancer? Tell us how. Have you recently posted a blog entry discussing an upcoming walk or photos/videos sporting passionately pink attire? Let us know and we can link to your information so we can work together to help support the cause.

The best part? Hanes will award the grand prize winner the chance to experience a reunion for 20 people at Walt Disney World Resort… so the question is: what will you celebrate? Check out the new site and let us know what you think and, most importantly, what you are celebrating.

Have you created a virtual t-shirt on the site or actually visited the Disney Design-A-Tee Store Presented by Hanes at Downtown Disney? Let us know and we can link to your blog post or upload your photos to our group Flickr page and watch them stream on our Social Mix Hub homepage.