Toxic masculinity sucks. Aside from negatively impacting anyone who does not identify as male, it also creates certain expectations for men that further perpetuate it. Real men don’t cry, real men are strong, real men don’t put time and effort into how they look or feel.
Hims calls bullshit. This preventative care brand believes that men can look and feel their best all the time, and they’re wanting to normalize issues that men deal with but are often too embarrassed to talk to their doctor about—such as hair loss or erectile dysfunction (plus they’ll be releasing moisturizers on their site soon).
If you pop on over to their website, you’ll be reminded of other brands like LOLA or Thinx. It’s bold, it’s youthful, and it brings to light topics that are still sadly considered taboo. “Only 1 in 10 guys feel comfortable talking about their looks and health with their doctor,” their About page states. When you associate these types of issues with middle-aged men flirting with a partner over a game of tennis or gazing worriedly at their receding hairline in the bathroom mirror, it’s easier to understand why.
Hims offers direct-to-consumer shampoos, serums, vitamins, and pills delivered right to your door for those concerned about hair loss or ED. In a way, it seems to conflict with their mission—after all, if the goal is to get men to be more comfortable discussing these issues, trying to handle them discreetly without consulting a doctor doesn’t exactly normalize the topic. But the brand clearly states they’re all about preventative care and self-care solutions. There’s now a first line of defense against these issues, plus Hims has a thorough blog with well-researched posts (that are even reviewed by medical professionals) to educate consumers. It gets people understanding it, thinking about it, and talking about it, making it ultimately not-so-weird.
The packaging for Hims is also subtle and classy—it’s something that consumers won’t feel the need to stash away in the deepest, darkest corners of their medicine cabinet. Pill bottles come in a small brown box, highlighting the natural ingredients used, and the main attraction is the brand name in a simple serif font. It doesn’t feel overly medicinal, and it definitely doesn’t ooze masculinity. By embracing the health aspect, it simply feels like any other vitamin or supplement someone might take.
Branch, a San Francisco creative agency, led the design for the start-up. “The core products are based in baldness and erectile dysfunction–things people don’t want to talk about,” Josh Morenstein, a founding partner at Branch, told Forbes. “But what’s unique to Hims and the brand as a whole is we don’t really care. There are products we need and we want. More recently, women don’t have a problem leaving out a serum that diminishes wrinkles. There’s maybe even pride in getting the best and one leaving it out. That’s something with what we’re trying to do with Hims.”
