I have to admit, I’m the kind of guy who clings to his underwear until it’s little more than two threads attached to a stretched out, useless elastic band. Guys tend to be creatures of habit and would rather put up with worn down shorts than go to the store to buy new ones.

Freepan (short for Free Pants) is a totally new patented service prepared to send up to seven free pairs of underpants every month – with free delivery!

Catch? Yes, there are a couple catches but not as bad as you might imagine.

First you have to sign up for this service. Membership is free, but you do have to give information like your phone number and address which may set off some alarms to the more skeptical among us.

The next catch is that only men’s boxer shorts are being given away. Sorry ladies, you may get your chance later – unless you’re into boxers too. The boxer shorts are one-size-fits-all and a 95:5 polyester cotton blend.

So, why is it free then?

The underwear has advertisements on them for various participating companies.  Unfortunately this means that depending where you live you may not be eligible for the maximum pairs or any at all.  Likely people in big cities will get the best chance for now.

According to Freepan; “You might not think that advertising on underwear is a good idea, but we look at our underpants on average 8 times a day.  We see them while washing, drying, getting dressed, and using the toilet.”  Granted the visibility is better than I thought, but if I see a Snickers ad on my brother’s drawers hung out to dry, it might not have the intended effect.

The patent of this service also includes socks which would be a great expansion to this idea. The main drawbacks are that you don’t know what they’ll look like, you might not be able to get anything, and you have to give up some personal info.  But if it all works out you can say hello to a steady supply of new underwear each month.

Guys generally aren’t picky about what our shorts look like anyway.  Then again, if I get into a car accident I’d hate to be carted into the ER wearing my Viagra promotional underpants.

Source: Freepan via Gigazine (Japanese)