The search is on for the next American . . . not idol, not model, but wait for it, king of facial hair.
Guys can face off at the mane event on Friday at Navy Pier. The winner will be to be crowned the Wahl Man of Chicago, named in honor the men’s grooming products company.
The company is bringing its 30-foot-long mobile barbershop to the top 10 facial hair-friendly cities where its “beardisticians” and “mustacheologists” will offer free trims and shaves. For each person groomed, the company will donate $1 to Zero, a nonprofit dedicated to ending prostate cancer.
Chicago’s winner will go up against guys selected in each of the top 10 facial hair-friendly cities as part of a city-by-city competition.
Wahl just released a list of the top 2014 the top cities list in June. And Chicago hit a bit of stubble trouble in the rankings. The city came in 7th place, dropping No. 4 last year.
But before your hairy upper lip starts twitching, just know the results were based on an analysis of positive conversation of facial hair online. Searches for keywords such as beard, mustache, mutton chop and positive commentary on social media about facial hair were all factors in creating the list.
Because the just-released list was based on 2014, it’ll be roughly a year before we know whether the facial fuzz buzz tied to all those Blackhawks playoff beards this year will improve Chicago’s standing.
“I would not be surprised if Chicago jumped up because they just won the Stanley Cup,” said Robyn Nowak, Wahl spokeswoman.
In recent years, the baseball beard has played a significant role for winning cities.
Boston topped the list last year after a World Series win. This year, San Francisco snagged the no. 4 spot.
Last year Wahl even did a study that showed the more players on a team sporting facial hair, the better odds the team has of winning the World Series. The past four World Series MVP won with whiskers: Madison Bumgarner of the Giants in 2014, David Ortiz of the Red Sox in 2013, Pablo Sandoval of the Giants in 2012, and David Freese of the Cardinals in 2011.
On trips to Chicago from Sterling about two hours west of Chicago where Wahl is based “we see a lot of young people sporting big beards and into facial hair and it’s a big growing trend in Chicago and should catapult you up the chart next year,” said Jeff Bovee, Wahl’s senior product manager.
The Midwest has always embraced facial hair more than their coastal neighbors, he said.
“My intuition is the Midwestern man is more authentic. He’s not as focused on what other people think of him as he is about how he feels about himself,” Bovee said.
What Wahl is looking for in its search is someone who is passionate about their hair no matter if it’s a goatee, a handbar mustache, soul patch or lumberjack beard.
Last year, The Chop Shop chef de cuisine John Wayne Formica won the Chicago round of the Wahl competition.
This year, a selection committee will pick a man from each top 10 facial hair-friendly city on Facebook. Of course, it’s expected to be a neck and neck competition.
Guys also can enter online by uploading a photo to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #OfficialSponsorOfFacialHair. The finalists will win $500 and a trimmer and the winner will get bragging rights of course but also $1,500 and a chance to appear in a national ad.
