You heard of Man of the Year accolade, but the Wahl Man of the Year is not that. Man of the Year (or for political correctness, “person of the year”) is bestowed on a person who have had some impact to the society, or as Time defines as “for better or for worse… has done the most to influence the events of the year.” Wahl Man of the Year, on the other hand, is really just about men and men’s facial hair. Wahl Man of the Year is, as the title suggests, organized by Wahl Grooming – a quarter-century-old American men’s grooming product maker.
Every year, Wahl Grooming dispatched a team to comb through the Top 10 Most Facial Hair Friendly Cities in America in search of the one men who has the most well groomed whiskers. But how do the team hunt down these men with facial hair? Well, they toured the cities in a 30-foot mobile barbershop, giving dudes free trims and grooming advice. Clever. Very clever. Like, who does not dig free things, right? (Yes, even men, especially those who truly care about their beard).
Ten men who were determined to make the cut went on to become the finalists, but only one emerged to bag the covered Wahl Men of the Year title and that one man was Chris Talone, a Seattle school teacher. An oh, Talone’s win was by the way of online votes, just so you know. Here’s what Talone has to say on his victory:
“I don’t have hair on my head, so I use my facial hair to express myself.. I take the time to keep it looking good, and I encourage guys to experience the freedom that comes from shaving your head and growing a beard.”
Good advice there, but I will rather keep my lustrous, thick locks. Thank you very much. But hey, Talone facial glory does indeed look fabulous. OK. Maybe I am just jealous that I can’t get anything growing beyond a sparse patch of goatee. Urghhh..
Image: Wahl Grooming.
