Bonobos Taps ‘Basement Yard’ Hosts to Star in Spring Linen Campaign

Forget the athletes or the movie stars, Bonobos has opted for a comedy duo for its latest ad campaign.

The menswear brand has tapped Joe Santagato and Frank Alvarez, comedians and hosts of the Basement Yard podcast, for its new linen campaign, launching on Monday.

The focus on linen comes as a result of a recent uptick in interest among Bonobos’ customers in linen with the keyword search taking the top three spots on its website. The brand realizes that guys may have some hesitation when it comes to buying linen, believing it’s scratchy and wrinkled. To combat those issues, Bonobos leans on Santagato and Alvarez for a new Linen Hotline, which answers those concerns.

“We had planned a major summer campaign to support the launch of our linen assortment and to capitalize on this big trend,” explained Krissie Milan, chief marketing officer of Bonobos. “You’d be hard-pressed to find an apparel brand that does not feature linen these days, especially in menswear. As we were building out our campaign, we also aligned around selecting talent and partners that are relatable and reflect the interests of our guy. We know the Bonobos guy is a large fan of comedy and they follow and listen to podcasts. The Basement Yard is one of the top comedy podcasts today and with that, there’s natural alignment between their audience and our target consumer.”

So it was a natural to turn to the hosts to speak to its customers.

“Beyond just style guidance, our mission this summer is to help men reframe how they view linen,” Milan added. “We wanted to address the practical ways of wearing linen, the different contexts in which our customer may want to wear it, but may not immediately feel confident or comfortable in doing so. We introduced The Linen Hotline to feature different scenarios: travel, everyday work and special occasions, like weddings, and provide style guidance and a bit of education on why this fabric choice is appropriate this season.”

She said that leaning into the Basement Yard’s intrinsic humor “we are able to feature our linen collection and highlight its benefits in a completely relatable way for our customer. The Basement Yard also has a strong following and wide reach. In partnering with Joe and Frank, we also know that our campaign can be further amplified with their audience, driving brand awareness.”

This marks the first fashion campaign for the podcast hosts.

“Never in a million years did I think I would be modeling,” said Alvarez. “It’s been such a cool experience and I’m so thankful, but I don’t think the group chat is ever going to let me live this down.”

His cohost added: “I’ve always loved Bonobos clothing, so getting to be a part of this campaign was really cool. Never would I have imagined being a model, but it’s great to know I have something to fall back on if comedy doesn’t work out.”

Milan said the partnership may continue in the future. “This is the first time we have partnered with Joe and Frank. We hope to continue working with them in the future in another capacity,” she said.

Bonobos has been owned by WHP Global and Express since 2023 when it was purchased from Walmart for $75 million.