Funpals

{{short description|Undergarments for male children}} {{use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox brand | logo = | name = Funpals | image = 150px|Funpals | type = Children's underwear | currentowner = Fruit of the Loom | origin = USA | introduced = April 2, 1985 | discontinued = | related = FunGals | markets = Worldwide | previousowners = | trademarkregistrations = | ambassador = | tagline = WOW! I've got the neatest pals behind me! <small>(1980s)</small> | website = [http://www.fruit.com/home Official website] }} '''Funpals''' is a children's underwear name brand that was established in 1985 in order to compete with Underoos.<ref name="trademarkia">{{cite web | url = http://www.trademarkia.com/funpals-73449368.html| title = Funpals establishment date/ownership information | publisher = Trademarkia| access-date = 2011-03-30}}</ref> Its trademark was renewed on March 17, 2005, by William R. Hansen, trademark correspondent.<ref name="trademarkia"/>

Funpals were advertised on television and in ''Working Mother'', a magazine intended for mothers who had to balance the pressures of the workforce with motherhood.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MWEEAAAAMBAJ&q=funpals+underwear&pg=PA111| title = Funpals advertisement | date = September 1986| access-date = 2018-12-08| magazine = Working Mother|via=Google Books }}</ref>

==Summary== Instead of merely having the cartoon or movie's logo, Funpals uses the characters from the movie or television show on the underpants, for example ''Jurassic Park'', ''Bob the Builder'',<ref name="goodexperience"/> ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'',<ref name="goodexperience"/> Spider-Man,<ref name="goodexperience"/> Batman, ''Pokémon'',<ref name="goodexperience">{{cite web | url = http://www.goodexperience.com/broken/i/04/05/fungals-s.jpg| title = Characters on Funpals/FunGals underwear | publisher = Good Experience| date = 2004| access-date = 2009-01-01}}</ref> Superman,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laoOdbVcLTQ| title = Funpals Underoos Underwear 1986 Commercial | website = YouTube| date = November 25, 2011 | access-date = 2012-05-15}}</ref> ''Batman Begins'' (based on the 2005 American motion picture) and ''Angry Birds''.<ref name="fruitshop"/>

To trim costs and improve profitability, all Funpals undergarments intended for sale in the Americas are manufactured in Latin American countries.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.hoovers.com/fruit-of-the-loom/--ID__11960--/freeuk-co-factsheet.xhtml| title = Manufacturing information | publisher = Hoover's United Kingdom| access-date = 2009-03-08}}</ref> Other places that manufacture Funpals briefs include Canada, Europe and North Africa.

Funpals are made only in the traditional briefs format although modern boxer briefs for children have been inspired by the more recent Underoos designs.<ref name="fruitshop">{{cite web| url = http://shop.fruit.com/Licensed-Briefs-Licensed-Underwear-Underwear-Boys/b/5394060011| title = Types of underwear| publisher = Fruit of the Loom| access-date = 2008-12-25| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120809091322/http://shop.fruit.com/Licensed-Briefs-Licensed-Underwear-Underwear-Boys/b/5394060011| archive-date = 2012-08-09| url-status = dead}}</ref> Sizing for Funpals start at a "boys' small" (size 4) and ends at a "boys' large" or "boys' extra large". Occasionally, some designs reach the maximum size at a "boys' triple-extra large" (equivalent to a men's medium or a size 32). With their juvenile design, these are designed for obese boys rather than adolescent males and adult men. A petition to expand the Funpals line into sizes worn by adult males (and into designs based on adult male-oriented licensed properties), was unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/169610| title = Petition for Men's Funpals | publisher = Mister Poll| access-date = 2009-01-03}}</ref>

The female equivalent of Funpals are called FunGals. They have designs like ''Dragon Tales'',<ref name="goodexperience"/> ''Bob the Builder'' (using the female characters) and ''Pokémon''<ref name="goodexperience"/> while carrying the traditional design of adult female panties. Fruit of the Loom manufactures Funpals underwear<ref name="trademarkia"/> while Hanes manufactures ''Showtoons'' which directly competes with both Funpals and FunGals. Unlike Showtoons, Funpals shows its design with a giant print on the center of the undergarment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://juvenileclothing.com/kidsunderwear/funpals1a.html |title=More characters on Funpals |publisher=Juvenile Clothing |access-date=2008-12-25 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121175114/http://www.juvenileclothing.com/kidsunderwear/funpals1a.html |archive-date=November 21, 2008 }}</ref>

According to leading parenting manuals, Funpals and similar childish underwear are generally considered to be a bad idea for any child over the age of eight,<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Raymond V. Burke |author2=Ronald W. Herron |author3=Father Flanagan's Boys' Home|title=Common Sense in Parenting Boys|year=1996 |isbn=9780938510772 |publisher=Boys Town Press |location=New York |pages=98–99}}</ref> owing to the added fun that a schoolyard bully acquires by giving a wedgie to a weaker boy who wears briefs with cartoons on them, which almost inevitably leads to a chronic bullying problem.

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funpals}} Category:Products introduced in 1985 Category:Fruit of the Loom Category:Children's underwear Category:Underwear brands