Well, that’s one way to get some attention for your product launch.
Manpacks is announcing a new Startup Perks program, and to promote it, the company mailed boxes of free condoms to more than 100 startups, including Path, Udemy, Scribd, and GetAround. Supposedly, the boxes started arriving today — with a custom URL where workers at that specific company can sign up for the program.
Co-founder and CEO Ken Jonson says Manpacks has been working to build a corporate perks program aimed at larger organizations, but then he decided it felt “a little weird” to leave out startups. So it’s launching with startup perks, then expanding to more corporate targets in a couple of months.
Basically, the program allows entrepreneurs and their employees to sign up for discounted Manpacks shipments, which include things like underwear, socks, razors, and, yes, condoms — things that guys may not want to spend time shopping for.
Startups may be the ideal customer base for Manpacks, since people at a startup often put their lives on hold and work ridiculously long hours, so anything that reduces the time spent on the responsibilities of everyday life will probably be welcomed.
So why the condoms? (It probably won’t help with the complaint that startups are increasingly dominated by a “brogrammer” culture that’s hostile to women.) Johnson says he wanted to do “fun and a little irreverent.” I’d say he succeeded.