MR. MA, a year-old golf apparel company based in Austin (Texas), supports injured military veteran golfers and others ‘who’ve persevered and inspire’ and in September launched a social and PR campaign promoting a new One-Armed Hoodie for amputee vets.
All proceeds from the hoodie benefit The Simpson Cup: the annual Ryder Cup styled tournament between teams of 13 injured servicemen and veterans from Great Britain and the USA which aims to celebrate bravery and camaraderie through golf.
The idea for the initiative came when company Co-Founder Mason Reed met players participating in last year’s Simpson Cup and wanted to help support the tournament.
With assistance from Episode Four, the apparel brand created a bespoke product to show support and raise funds for The Simpson Cup and other programmes that use golf as a way to rehabilitate wounded veterans and find them employment in the golf industry. The one-armed hoodie emerged after sending a text to MR. MA Pro Staffer Nick Kimmel: a former Marine who lost an arm after stepping on a 40-lb IED in Afghanistan in 2011. The resulting hoodie was designed in a green colourway with the MR. MA logo in the centre and a missing left sleeve with text on the left side of the hoodie reading: “In support of veteran amputee golfers”.
The social campaign rolled out in September and explained the inspiration behind the product (which costs $100, is manufactured in Los Angeles and will ship in November).
As well as the brand’s own social content, MR. MA’s network of influencers – including players, caddies, golf course architects and bloggers – are wearing the 50 samples of the hoodie distributed by the company and posting about it online as an additional strand of the promotional campaign.
“The One-Armed Hoodie has done exactly what we hoped it would do: galvanize support for injured, veteran golfers and by extension, anyone playing adaptive golf or overcoming a disability,” stated Mr.MA CEO Mason Reed. “This is a corner of golf getting increased attention that is long overdue, and we’re happy to be a small part of it. We’re thrilled with the response so far, from the able-bodied, injured-veteran and adaptive-golf communities.”
“We’d like consumers to wear the hoodie in support of a great cause,” said Episode Four Founding Partner Teddy Lynn. “When you wear a hoodie missing a sleeve, it provokes people to ask why. And that gives the wearer a chance to talk about the cause.”
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The golf-focused sportswear company is a passion project for co-founders Mason Reed and Matt Andresen (the MR and the MA in the name) who are self-confessed ‘golf sickos’.
“Matt and I didn’t know much about injured golfers before starting MR. MA in 2021,” outlined Reed. “We were of course familiar with organizations like Wounded Warriors, and Matt’s work with Homes For Our Troops illuminated the challenge that veterans faced with their houses. But when we started getting to know amputee golfers we had the same questions everyone else has – how do you swing like that, does it hurt, does it get sweaty, do people stare at you, what’s the difference between “below the knee” and “above the knee,” and of course: does the traditional, able-bodied apparel work just fine with your injury?
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