Political Shorts: Bernie Sanders Underwear For Sale (No, Not His Personal Ones)

Most Americans have probably never considered wearing the face of a presidential candidate on their nether regions, but a company marketing Bernie Sanders underwear is stepping forward to change that. Yes, that’s right — if you’d like to have the candidate from Vermont behind you — literally — there is a shop for that.

Bernie’s Briefs, LLC, is also based in Vermont, and their online store currently features four items: a pair of women’s briefs, a pair of men’s briefs, and a pair of boxer briefs, all in white, with Bernie Sanders’ face printed on the rear, and one t-shirt, added for those times when you’d like to show your support for your favorite Democratic Socialist without dropping your pants.

The items are, of course, not a part of any official campaign, and the funds aren’t considered a political donation. However, the company does say that 10% of profits will go to the Yellow Ribbon Fund to help veterans wounded in service:

In recognition of Bernie’s lifelong dedication to helping our Veterans.

Notably, the design doesn’t feature Sanders’ official campaign slogan, a political revolution is coming. Instead, it bears the unofficial slogan that has hashtagged its way into Sanders supporters’ tweets, and that was eventually adopted by the campaign: feel the Bern.

Even fans of the Presidential candidate are questioning whether “feel the Bern” is a great slogan to wear in one’s pants — though Bernie’s official slogan might not be that much more appropriate of a choice, actually. Bernie’s other official slogan, not for sale might also be of questionable taste for underthings.

The inspiration for the product line appears to be a Saturday Night Live skit in which comedian Larry David, portraying Bernie Sanders, asked America which candidate they would prefer:

“One of these Washington insiders, or a guy who has one pair of clean underwear that he dries on a radiator?”

Sanders laughed the portrayal off, telling CBS that he had actually recently bought his second pair of underwear — then quickly assuring viewers that he wasn’t actually suffering any shortage of undergarments.

“That is a joke. Don’t write it down, that was a joke. I have an ample supply of underwear.”

If you’re waiting for the company to print Bernie’s face on boxers, bikinis, or thongs, you may be out of luck: another aspect of the inspiration for Bernie’s Briefs was, according to the Burlington Free Press, Sanders’ statements on various talk shows that he prefers briefs.

Bernie’s Briefs may be the first company to focus on creating underwear in support of a specific candidate, but Sanders is not the only candidate available on underwear. The difference is, for most candidates, you’ll have to turn to custom-printing services like Cafe Press and Zazzle, where you can design your own or buy designs by other users.

Here’s a Cafe Press offering for Hillary Clinton boxer shorts, for example.

Then there’s this Ben Carson underwear design on Zazzle — also available in thong style.

Donald Trump is available too — Customized Girl even offers a pair reading “Trump Rump.”

Of course, these sites, being custom shops, also offer a wide variety of political sentiments on underwear (and outerwear!), ranging from mockery to support of virtually any given candidate or political stance.

So, okay, the items at Bernie’s Briefs aren’t the first or only company to associate politicians and rear ends. Still, the novelty is getting some attention — and if you’d like to purchase a pair of Bernie Sanders underwear and support veterans at the same time, they’re the place to turn.

[Image via Bernie’s Briefs Facebook]