*SEE SUrEFormEN.co.Uk /dESigNthEFUtUrE For FULL tErmS & coNditioNS. comPE titioN cLoSES 31 AUgUSt 20 08 Photogr APhS: gEt t y imAgES
icture a university run entirely
by men. in it, there would
be a faculty devoted to the
accurate throwing of plastic
water beakers into office
rubbish bins, a department
of Joe Pesci and an entire
wing for idle conversations about the human
body. the modern man, always hungry for
knowledge, has questions – could you play
football without a big toe? can a misused
cotton bud make you deaf? it is in this spirit of
masculine scientific curiosity that ShortList
has assembled probably the world’s finest
collection of sweat-related oddities. what is
certain is that the future will hold many more
challenges for our embattled gender – many
of them sweaty. Sure for men has been
engineered to be future-ready, and these are
the ultimate perspiration facts…
l The battle to smell fresh has raged for
centuries. The ancient Egyptians shaved
under their arms and then applied citrus oils
and spices, whereas the Greeks and Romans
blended deodorising perfumes. But in the
years to come, we’ll be applying products
that are slightly more advanced. Sure for
Men antiperspirant deodorant has been
future tested, proven to work at 58°C,
adrenaline responsive and is unbeaten
in competitive dryness testing, ensuring
we’re all prepared for what’s ahead.
l Sweat is mainly water, with a bit of salt and
potassium chucked in. But there are two types:
1) a salty watery variety produced in generous
amounts by the eccrine sweat gland, and 2) a
thick odourless fluid created by the apocrine
gland. Although generated in tiny quantities,
this latter concoction sits on the skin longer,
attracting bacteria, which causes body odour.
Gravity: more fun
without it
l German police launched an investigation
in November 2006 after over 1,500 bank
notes began disintegrating upon human
contact. The crumbling euros were recalled
and it was duly found that the nation’s
crystal-meth users had left a residue on
the notes, which when mixed with sweat,
combined to form sulphuric acid.
l the Future Laboratory report, recently
commissioned by Sure for men, predicts that
in the future women will rule the workplace,
bagging the best jobs with their holistic
reasoning, empathy and “right-brain thinking”.
it’s also been shown more women in senior
management leads to a higher return on
equity. But us men still have some (biological)
tricks up our sleeves. male underarm sweat
has been proven to improve women’s moods
It is believed that sweaty palms and feet
developed as a survival mechanism, helping
our ancestors’ grip as they swung from trees
and affect their secretion of the luteinising
hormone, which is involved in stimulating
ovulation. Scientists at the University of
california last year determined that just a few
whiffs of a chemical found in male perspiration
is enough to raise levels of the stress hormone
cortisol in heterosexual women.
l Midges – tiny humming insects that ruin
many otherwise-idyllic outdoor moments –
are perspiration connoisseurs. Scottish
scientists recently confirmed that some
people are bitten more than others because
of their sweat. So blame your parents instead.
l Ever grabbed someone’s hand and wished
you hadn’t? Nobody likes clammy palms – it’s
unsavoury. But spare a thought for the five per
cent of the population who suffer from ‘sweaty
palm syndrome’ or, if you were to give it a
scientific label, hyperhidrosis. Until recently,
docs believed that the condition was stress
related, but there is now evidence to suggest
it’s a genetic condition.
l Simon Moran became the UK’s first burglar
to be convicted on the strength of a single
bead of sweat, after he wiped his brow with
a glove and then transferred the sweat on to
a plastic bag at a crime scene. Police arrested
the 38-year-old in 2006 after matching his
DNA with a sample on their database.
l in the future we’ll be playing just as much
sport, if not more, than we do now. only it looks
like we’ll be mixing up our traditional team
games, such as football and rugby, with
individual activities like snowboarding and
surfing. the Sure For men Future report
predicts men will be more likely to try extreme
sports, requiring us to find muscles we never
knew we had. But have you ever wondered,
while dragging yourself up a hill during an
ill-thought-out run, why workouts are harder
the more you sweat? well, it’s because sweat
is drawn from water in the blood. So, the more
you sweat, the thicker your blood becomes
and the harder your heart has to work.
Win a zero-gravity flight
and a trip to Las Vegas
If you can come up with an invention or an idea
for the future then you could have a once-in-alifetime
floaty experience and blow £2,000 of
someone else’s money on ‘the tables’. It’s time
to take those late-night moments of
inspiration out of the bar and into the light of
day and let them breathe, live and, let’s face it,
amaze. Anyone can invent a disposable shirt
made of fine Italian cured meat, but only a true
visionary can come up with a concept to match
Edison’s light bulb and gain the trust of
venture capitalists… or send it in to the Sure
for Men Future competition*.
Upload your idea to the competition website
Sureformen.co.uk/designthefuture
shortlist promotion
SurE For MEn
As we journey into the future, powerful forces
will be conspiring to give us unsightly damp
patches on our shirts. Fight back with the
latest in dryness technology – Sure for men
has been made by people who really care
about keeping you smelling sweet.
Proven to work at 58°C
El Aziza in Libya is usually
fairly hot, but on one
memorable day in 1922 it
was the site of the hottest
day ever recorded on
earth when it reached an
extraordinary 58°c. this heat, by the way,
was the air temperature – down in the sand
of the desert the surface temperature was
really hot. Sure for men, being the perfectionist
it is, developed its antiperspirants to work
even if this extreme is repeated.
Unbeaten protection
Sure doesn’t give up. the
spirit that made this nation
great – the spirit that made
us the world’s leader in
chip-based fish dishes –
lives on. it undertook
competitive dryness testing and didn’t stop
the development work on its antiperspirant
until it was unbeaten.
Adrenaline responsive
whether you are heli-skiing
or asking for an audacious
pay rise, your body will be
generating adrenaline. Sure
for men is able to respond
to sudden increases in
adrenaline, helping you keep your cool
even in the most taxing scenarios.
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