News reports in Britain and elsewhere tout a new British brand of underwear, named “Shreddies“, that uses a carbon filter to trap bad-smelling gasses. The manufacturer says the underwear is “award-winning“. This video compilation shows several recent TV accounts of it:
But the basic product is not new, nor is it British.
The original such product is Under-Ease, invented by Buck Weimer of Colorado. For inventing Under-Ease, Mr Weimer was awarded the 2001 Ig Nobel Prize for biology. Here’s a TV interview with the inventor:
Under-Ease has a replaceable charcoal filter. The new British product reportedly has a filter one does not replace. Such is progress.