Boxer Boogie Brings Fame

Pulling away from the airport rental car company, baseball cap on his head, cellular headset in his ear, Vaughn Lowery didn't expect to be recognized.

After all, he was fully clothed.

Still, the man who took Lowery's car information asked Lowery if people often recognize him from his commercials.

"I was shocked," says Lowery, the 28-year-old model who dons only a pair of formfitting briefs to perform the "Boxer Boogie" for Kmart Corp.'s much-talked about Joe Boxer ad campaign.

"I wouldn't think anyone would recognize me unless I was undressed," he adds with a characteristically boisterous laugh during a recent interview in his native Detroit. "Especially this 40-some-year-old African-American blue-collar guy. He even said he liked the ads. Who would have thought he'd be a fan?"

After stripping to his skivvies to shoot the Joe Boxer spots, Lowery is learning that fans come in all forms.

Since the first round of commercials began airing July 28 - the day Lowery says he "was born" - the man with the nearly bald head, toothy smile and infectious dance moves has received thousands of pieces of fan mail.

He likely can expect many more as the ads' holiday versions, featuring the festive "Antler Boogie," continue to hit the airwaves.

One father wrote that he dances with his children every time the commercials come on. A wheelchair-bound woman said one look at Lowery's mug lifts her spirits. And numerous letter-writers have simply thanked Lowery for making them smile.

"It's just good, clean, happy fun," he says.

But even Lowery admits that one of his new holiday spots - appropriately dubbed "Unwrapped" - is "a little saucy."

At the start of the commercial, Lowery dances with just his hips wrapped in a Christmas present. By the end of the 30-second spot, he has boogied his way out of box and bow to reveal a pair of red Santa boxers, complete with a belt-like black waistband and white fur trim.

Lowery's sister, Dawn Lowery of Detroit, says the family was only slightly surprised to see Vaughn parading about in his unmentionables.

"I mean, we saw him do it so much as child, it's kind of cute," she says with a laugh.

"He's always been a comedian, always performing when the family would get together. A lot of kids play, but not all are entertainers."

Vaughn Lowery grew up in what he calls "humble beginnings" - a federally subsidized housing community on Detroit's west side and later an eastside community near the now famous 8 Mile Road.

After high school, Lowery went to Ithaca, N.Y., for his No. 1 priority - an education at Cornell University.

"I knew I would pursue acting, but I always wanted to fulfill the goal of going to college. It was the most important thing," he says.

Childhood neighbor and longtime friend Charles Pugh describes Lowery as "zany, wacky and unpredictable," a good-looking but slightly pudgy child.

"Then he started modeling and just decided to change his body. He was determined," Pugh says.

Lowery says he works hard in the gym and does his best to stick to a low-carbohydrate diet in order to maintain the well-sculpted physique showcased in the Joe Boxer ads.

"Vaughn is so much more than a goofy pretty-boy," says Pugh, an anchor at Detroit television station WJBK. "He's a smart guy, an excellent writer and very business-minded. I'm very proud of him."

After earning a bachelor's degree from Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Lowery moved to New York City to enter an executive training program.

But the call of the camera would wait no longer.

Like all good discovery stories, his begins with a mutual friend, a hastily constructed portfolio and a "just give me one chance" attitude.

Lowery since has traveled the country and the world, adding to a resume that includes appearances in Glamour, FHM and GQ magazines as well as ad campaigns and runway shows for companies like Skechers Shoes and Nordstrom.

And, of course, Joe Boxer.

The audition in Los Angeles, where Lowery moved more than two years ago, didn't call for a strip tease - but it didn't rule one out, either.

"They played the music and I went crazy, dancing like my little cousins and I do in the living room," Lowery says. "Then I stripped down to my Joe Boxers and kept on dancing."

Patrick O'Neill, a creative director with TBWA/Chiat/Day, which produces the commercials, says it's common for people to stray from a script to get attention.

"But this wasn't common. This was quite inspired," O'Neill recalls. "He didn't just audition to get the job; he created a combination of things we didn't foresee. It was what we call a happy accident."

Soon, Lowery was in a studio doing 25 takes of the dance.

"At first it was like, `Oh, my God, what did I just do?"' Lowery recalls. "But then all the Joe Boxer people, Kmart people, production people, they were all standing, whistling and clapping."

Lowery says his Joe Boxer success has sparked interest in Hollywood, and though he can't talk specifics just yet, he hopes to soon fulfill his longtime goal of acting in a major motion picture or television series.

But for now, he'll revel in the popularity of the Boxer Boogie, which he says has mass-appeal for a very simple reason:

"You know, everybody has that underwear dance in front of the mirror before going out with their friends. I just do mine in front of the camera."

By Sarah Freeman