WE's \"Hot Coffee Break\"
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash
Several bands of shirtless men stationed themselves at transit hubs in Midtown Manhattan Tuesday morning to hand out cups of free coffee to pedestrians. The men were the stars of WE TV’s new Web series, “Hot Coffee Break,” premiering on the network’s Web site today, and they could be spotted around Grand Central Station and Penn Station from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
The shorts aim to find the sexy in the mundane, by showing men go through normal motions of the day (hailing a cab, washing dishes, or rescuing a kitten) but only showing their naked torso throughout the process.“Our viewers work really hard, and we thought these Webisodes would be a great way to give them a break during their day this summer,” said Jen Robertson, vice president of digital and emerging media at WE. “In the morning, you have like five extra minutes to grab a coffee before you get to work, so today we thought we’d make it a little nicer.”
The five outside of Grand Central waved fliers, held up sandwich boards, and brandished fake tattoos on waxed chests depicting the new series’ title and the network’s logo. Another man, fully clothed and clearly not a part of the new series, was burdened with the five-gallon thermos of the piping liquid on his back.
As anyone could expect from New Yorkers, a lot of pedestrians were skeptical of the half-naked men handing out free coffee. Others: not so much. "Oh yeah, I do!" squealed one girl walking east on 42nd when propositioned with a cup at the end of a bare, chiseled arm.
The shorts aim to find the sexy in the mundane, by showing men go through normal motions of the day (hailing a cab, washing dishes, or rescuing a kitten) but only showing their naked torso throughout the process.“Our viewers work really hard, and we thought these Webisodes would be a great way to give them a break during their day this summer,” said Jen Robertson, vice president of digital and emerging media at WE. “In the morning, you have like five extra minutes to grab a coffee before you get to work, so today we thought we’d make it a little nicer.”
The five outside of Grand Central waved fliers, held up sandwich boards, and brandished fake tattoos on waxed chests depicting the new series’ title and the network’s logo. Another man, fully clothed and clearly not a part of the new series, was burdened with the five-gallon thermos of the piping liquid on his back.
As anyone could expect from New Yorkers, a lot of pedestrians were skeptical of the half-naked men handing out free coffee. Others: not so much. "Oh yeah, I do!" squealed one girl walking east on 42nd when propositioned with a cup at the end of a bare, chiseled arm.
