Brokini Bros Are In on the Joke as Sales Boom
The Brokini was released into the world this week and, for better or worse, went viral.
The new-styled bathing suit, which is a cross between a Speedo and a men's bathing suit from Victorian times, appeared on a cheeky website by its creators Chad Sasko and Taylor Field, who described their creation as "the perfect swimwear to make your parents question where they went wrong."
"We're getting lots of great feedback and we're getting lots of negative feedback, which we're finding hilarious," said Field in an interview with the Canadian site Global News.
"We're getting comments like we need to be more worried about the spread of brokinis than the spread of COVID. Lots of 'why would you ever make this?' And then we're also getting people saying that they've been waiting their whole lives for a bathing suit like this," Field told radio host Devon Peacock on 980 CFPL's Devon Peacock on Wednesday.
Sasko and Field attended high school in London, Ontario before moving to Toronto, where Sasko still lives. They came up with the idea for the Brokini while attending bachelor parties while in their 20s. "With our group of friends, people just kept trying to one-up each other in terms of crazy outfits to wear. And eventually down the line, Chad and I came up with the Brokini." Field told the website blogTO earlier this week.
"We wanted to come up with a bathing suit that's fun for goofing around on the beach, cottage weekends, bachelor parties and festivals," he added.
Their product went viral with news reports on numerous sites (BlogTO, BuzzFeed, CityNews, Daily Mail Online, and the Toronto Sun); but the most damning came from Esquire where the magazine's style editor Jonathan Evans who wrote: "the brokini is a supposed bikini for men that exists because 2020 has yet to tire of depleting your soul."
"I couldn't believe it. I was on Esquire.com with Ryan Gosling and other famous people, it was just the funniest thing. My wife was laughing at me like crazy," Field said.
He added that the Brokini has proved popular with college fraternities who are interested in their product for events like bachelor, beach and pool parties.
"We went into it with the expectation to try to have fun and make a funny product and see if there was anybody else out there who were silly like we were," he says.
The Brokini currently comes in two patterns, "Bromingo" and "Fineapple," at a cost of $45 apiece. (As of this writing, a Brokini can be fetched for a sale price of $40.)
As of writing, sales are booming: "We're sold out of large sizes and some mediums - schmedium bros to the front please! You can still place an order and we'll ship it out as soon as we're back in stock - more large and medium Brokinis are on their way!"
In the FAQ section on the product's website, is the query: "What if my Brokini doesn't fit me?"
"It's probably because you are too well endowed," the website answers.. "We suggest you find a less fortunate friend and gift them the Brokini."
"We will be supporting XL Bros very soon and new patterns are also in development - sign up for updates at the bottom of the site!"
Of course, the Twittersphere has responded, pro and con: