Something for the weekend: Many employees will have slightly quirkier roles hiding on their CV’s, however male grooming brand Mo Bro’s is a cut above the rest with its latest recruitment drive, offering to pay men £30 an hour to let stressed Christmas shoppers stroke their beard.
Men who wish to land this hair-larious role must have a beard that is at least two inches long, although Mo Bros’s state that men with longer, Santa-style beards are preferable.
The unique beard-stroking pop up will be at Highcross Shopping Centre in Leicester for three days from Wednesday 20 December 2017, to encourage Christmas shoppers to relieve their festive stress by stroking a man's beard.
Individuals will have to register online to book a slot with one of the three available beard-owners. They will then be able to stroke the beard of their choice for either 10 or 20 minutes to unwind during their shopping trip. The experience is priced at £5 for five minutes, with all profits from the venture donated to homelessness charity Shelter.
Shoppers will be able to enjoy complimentary tea, coffee or water while stroking their chosen beard, as well as have relaxing music playing in the background. Products such as beard balm and oil will also be available if individuals wish to add to their beard-stroking experience.
Savan Dattani, co-founder at Mo Bro’s, said: “Christmas is a stressful time of year for most people. [They are] in a mad rush trying to buy presents, food and drink, [while] juggling work, a family and other commitments. We had a think of how we could make this situation more enjoyable, and it suddenly came to us; a beard stroking station. We have a few guys with fantastic beards already signed up, but we could do with a few more because we anticipate demand to be high. Santa beards preferred, but not essential.
“It’s fairly common knowledge that stroking soft things, like animals, reduces stress, but we didn’t want to enlist the help of animals because they obviously can be somewhat unpredictable and chaotic. So, doing what we do, we thought beards are the next best thing. We’ll have an array of products available to use, so the beards will be soft and will smell great. Guests of the station can even brush them if they like.”
Here at Employee Benefits, we are already sizing up the beards available at our London office and contemplating whether a beard-stroking station would go down well with our festively frazzled employees…
