It must have been fun to be in New York's Bryant Park on Tuesday to watch tennis star Rafael Nadal strip down. It was part of a publicity stunt to promote his role as the face and body of Tommy Hilfiger's underwear line.
Nadal found himself playing on Tuesday on a red, white and blue Tommy Hilfiger court in the middle of Bryant Park, in a game of strip tennis (lose a point, lose an article of clothing) against a bevy of Hilfiger models.
Had he ever done anything like this before? "I never did," he said with a laugh after the match, at which he had sacrificed a few accessories (a tie, a pocket square) and his shirt, but stayed generally besuited. "It was special, and we had some fun, I think."
Hilfiger made no bones about using sex to sell his underwear.
His underwear business had been big in the 1990s, selling boxers to "college kids, skaters, all the young people in the '90s," Hilfiger told the New York Times. "Then it sort of quieted down. We started selling white underwear briefs. White underwear briefs are usually sold to middle-aged guys. And they weren't sexy anymore."
It's a shame the event wasn't doubles strip poker with Nadal teamed up with Novak Djokovic. That would be a match worth paying for.
Some photos from the Hilfiger event (top photo by Monica Schipper/FilmMagic; rest from Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Image).
