Funpals is a children's underwear name brand that was established in 1985 in order to compete with

Underoos Underoos is a brand of underwear primarily for children, produced by the Fruit of the Loom company. The packages include a matching top and bottom for either boys or girls, featuring a character from popular entertainment media, especially supe ...

. Its trademark was renewed on March 17, 2005, by William R. Hansen,

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

. Funpals were advertised on television and in ''

Working Mother ''Working Mother'' was a magazine for working mothers launched in 1979 by Founding Publisher Milton Lieberman, who was succeeded by Carol Evans. The founding editor of the magazine was Vivian Cadden, who retired as editor in 1990. Subsequent edi ...

'', a magazine intended for mothers who had to balance the pressures of the workforce with motherhood.

Summary

Instead of merely having the cartoon or movie's

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

, Funpals uses the characters from the movie or television show on the underpants, for example ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

'', ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment which ran from to in the United Kingdom through the CBBC strand and later CBeebies. The series centres on the adventures ...

'', ''

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s popular culture, ...

'',

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

, ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'',

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

, ''

Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...

'' (based on the 2005 American motion picture) and ''

Angry Birds ''Angry Birds'' is a Finnish media franchise created by Rovio Entertainment, and owned by Sega. The game series focuses on the titular flock of colorful angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs. Inspired by the game ''Cr ...

''. To trim costs and improve profitability, all Funpals undergarments intended for sale in the Americas are manufactured in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n countries. Other places that manufacture Funpals briefs include

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and North

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Funpals are made only in the traditional

briefs Briefs (or a brief) are a type of short, form-fitting Undergarment, underwear and swimsuit, swimwear, as opposed to styles where material extends down the thighs. Briefs have various different styles, usually with a waistband attached to fabric ...

format although modern

boxer briefs Boxer briefs (sometimes spelled boxer-briefs or called tight boxers, also known as A-Fronts) are a hybrid type of men's undergarment which are long in the leg, similar to boxer shorts, but tight-fitting like briefs. They emerged as a style in th ...

for children have been inspired by the more recent Underoos designs. 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 Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

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. The female equivalent of Funpals are called

FunGals ''FunGals'' are a brand name of children's underwear; manufactured by their parent company Fruit of the Loom. The trademark for the brand name was registered on May 29, 1987. Summary Mostly worn by young girls under the age of 12, these undergar ...

. They have designs like ''

Dragon Tales ''Dragon Tales'' is an animated educational television, educational Fantasy fiction, fantasy children's television series created by Jim Coane and Ron Rodecker, developed by Coane, Wesley Eure, Jeffrey Scott, Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser, and pr ...

'', ''Bob the Builder'' (using the female characters) and ''Pokémon'' while carrying the traditional design of adult female

panties Panties are women's form-fitting underpants. Typical components include an elastic waistband, a crotch panel to cover the genitalia (usually lined with absorbent material such as cotton), and a pair of leg openings that, like the waistband, ...

Fruit of the Loom Fruit of the Loom is an American company that manufactures clothing, particularly casual wear and undergarment, underwear. The company's world headquarters are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since 2002, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary ...

manufactures Funpals underwear while

Hanes Hanes (founded in 1900) and Hanes Her Way (founded in 1985) is an American clothing brand headquartered in Winston-Salem. Founded in 1900 as Shamrock Knitting Mills by John Wesley Hanes, the company is owned by Hanes, Inc. History Hanes was f ...

manufactures ''

Showtoons ''Showtoons'' were a trademark of children's underwear that were manufactured by Hanes, established in 1989, and disestablished in 2009. Its competitor, Fruit of the Loom, manufactured the ''Funpals'' (for boys) and ''FunGals'' (for girls) brands ...

'' which directly competes with both Funpals and FunGals. Unlike Showtoons, Funpals shows its design with a giant print on the center of the undergarment. 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, 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

Products introduced in 1985 Berkshire Hathaway Children's underwear Underwear brands {{product-stub