Funny Thing About Socks
Here at DeFeet, we celebrate a good sense of humor. In the early days of the company we relied heavily on our creative funny bone. We made so many socks with tongue-in-cheek designs, and were delighted when the comedic world would stop and take note.
I think our first encounter with a funny man was with the late great Robin Williams. Robin was a huge cycling fan, and we here at DeFeet have grown up with Mork and Mindy, Mrs. Doubtfire, and all the wonderful films and standup that he gave to the world. One day at cycling camp… Robin stepped into our trade show booth and grabbed the Survival of the Fittest sock, which featured a lonely sperm on a sock. The funny man started going off on a short comedy improv right there. He tossed the socks in the air and said, “I will run up the jizzum trail in these,” then, as quickly as he said that, burst out with, “come on, that was funny.” We were all in stitches. I posed with Williams for a quick photo. However, that was 2001 and we were the first trade show back in Vegas after 9-11, so cameras were not allowed in carry on. It turned out the photo was ruined in the hull of the plane. Ruined with gamma…which was oh, so fitting.
Another time on Dave Letterman, Robin was a guest and he kept pointing at his socks as he crossed his legs. Dave was so interested in what Williams was wearing, which was our Crash Test Dummy socks. Robin was filming and promoting Good Will Hunting and was always seen in our socks on all the talk shows with Oprah, Jay Leno and all those folks.
One night David Letterman held up a a pair of DeFeet socks and read the instructions on the packaging: “Do not eat. Made in North Carolina.” He was shocked that folks had to be told not to eat the socks….
Today, we can again tell a story about a wonderful funny man that is making us laugh while raising money for cancer. Will Ferrell is besties with one of our very close friends, Craig Pollard. They were roommates at USC. If you have time, watch this interview. Pollard started a charity called "Cancer for College." Will sits on the board. Will wore these DeFeet custom socks at the auction and sold them off his feet for a $1000 donation. This link is where you can help Cancer for College provide a scholarship to a young cancer survivor.
Funny thing about socks, we all need to laugh sometimes. Usually it is at a very difficult moment in our lives. Funny humans like Robin and Will light our lives with laughter, and it is such and honor to make them giggle and touch their soles.
