From Motherhood Moment
House & Home – SwampButt Underwear Winter Storm Guide To Prepare People in the South From A Company That Usually Profits From Visible Sweat
NOTE: This article was published in Motherhood Moment.
According to SwampButt Underwear, approximately 230 million Americans are expected to experience the effects of Winter Storm Fern starting Saturday January 24 through Tuesday January 27, 2026. Worse still of the citizenry to be seized by the freeze are in the south and are not accustomed to existing in sub-freezing temperatures. They simply ‘don’t do’ winter the way Americans in the northeast and upper Midwest experience. To get the Winter Storm Guide just share your email. We do not share this with anyone, ever!

As a semi-tongue in cheek, but kind of serious way to prepare, SwampButt Underwear offers a colorful and humorous guide to manage the unwelcome frozen conditions. It is a new twist on storm preparation and crisis communications. (Download a PDF version here: Rufus from SwampButt Underwear Prepares for the Freeze.
Humor, Serial Storytelling, and Practical Absurdity Succeed Where Crisis Communications Often Fail
So many attempts at storm preparation, crisis management and crisis communications fail, but not because of bad information or instructions that are wrong. They fail because the moment is mistaken. “By the time people encounter emergency messaging, like about this upcoming winter storm, they are already stressed, tired, uncertain, and juggling conflicting priorities,” said SwampButt Underwear founder Harold Nicoll, who also has an extensive background in public relations and crisis communications. “The public are not in a receptive frame of mind before the winter storm. They are not used to frozen conditions and are trying to orient themselves—emotionally and practically—inside a situation that has already gone sideways.”
Enter The Mascot
That’s where Rufus Prepares for the Freeze quietly succeeds. Not by shouting louder. Not by issuing firmer warnings. But by reflecting reality back to people in a way they immediately recognize.
“Rufus behaves the way people actually behave during storms: improvising, guessing, over-correcting, waiting, and learning things later than they should,” Nicoll said. “That is not a weakness. It is the entire point. Accuracy of and a focus on emotions and behavior builds trust faster than accuracy of information. Emotional and relatable communications are what drives successful crisis outreach.”
Different Temperatures Mean New Hazards

Commenting on how the weather impacts quality of life is not new for SwampButt. “We sell underwear for men who sweat so much, that it is visible below the belt line onto their pants, and have published plenty of information about that topic,” said SwampButt Underwear corporate spokesman Nick Heraldson. “But the owner (Nicoll) spent over a decade living and working in the upper Midwest. He understands the conundrum people in the south experience with these types of conditions and is sympathetic. That is how this guide got started.”
A Humorous Series With A Serious Moment
The makers of SwampButt Underwear use humor to market their uniquely named men’s undergarment all the time. But never for the prospect of ice and snow. That’s where Rufus Prepares for the Freeze quietly succeeds. Rufus is the SwampButt Underwear mascot. He is an anthropomorphic alligator who always wears SwampButt Underwear. “In his role as mascot, Rufus is really all of us,” Nicoll said. “He is guileless, does not put on airs and, as alligators go, is very relatable.”