Walking through the Grove before the Southeast Missouri game, Ole Miss students and fans may have noticed a new sticker making an appearance in the crowds that overtook the center of campus.
The half-red, half-blue square sticker with a white outline contained four letters: “HY” on top in the blue half, and “DR” on the red bottom half. Those letters, which stand for “Hell Yeah, Damn Right,” are pulled from a line in the “Hotty Toddy” chant and double as the name for a new company producing Ole Miss merchandise.
HYDR founder Bo Pentecost said the company’s products target the minds and hearts of the Rebel obsessed.
The idea for HYDR came in a rather unorthodox way.
“I was at a meeting in my church,” Pentecost said. “One of the pastors said, ‘Are you ready?’ and smiled quietly and said, ‘Nobody answer that!’ In that moment I was amused and thought to myself, ‘Maybe I should abbreviate it for them.’”
Soon after, the idea turned into products. It started with just car decals but has since grown to koozies, T-shirts and the soon-coming embroidered polo, all sporting the HYDR logo. However, the company isn’t stopping there.
“There’s just no end to the possibilities of products we could use with HYDR,” Pentecost said. “So far, the koozies and the decals have been our biggest hit, but we’ve got some pretty exciting stuff coming up in the near future.”
The distribution of the stickers in the Grove inspired at least one student to check out what HYDR had to offer.
“The logo is really cool,” said Wesley Dodd, senior exercise science major. “I hadn’t heard of this before. I’ll definitely be looking them up and buying something. I bet it takes off.”
The intention of this idea wasn’t to make a lot of money, or to hard-sell a big brand. This company was founded with the intention of strengthening the bond of the Ole Miss community.
“We want HYDR to be a family that support each other, that use their “Hell yeahs” and “Damn Rights” backed by a passion for life and the pursuit of great and noble aspirations,” Pentecost said. “Ole Miss has a great heritage and so much to be proud of. That’s what we want to be a part of.”
A big part of building that sense of community comes at the hands of social media. HYDR has taken to Twitter to connect with customers and fans. They currently have over 1,400 followers at the handle @hydr_olemiss.
“Social media is everything to us,” Pentecost said. “It’s the only way to keep in touch and build relationships with HYDR fans, and not just with students, but a wide demographic of people who love Ole Miss.”
The responses on social media have been very positive. One Twitter user even commented on a photo of the HYDR koozies, saying, “I want one of those around my beer.”
Things have gone smoothly for HYDR so far. With an upcoming “soft launch” in early 2014, the company is working to build its brand and put out a quality product, while making sure to stay on course with the original concept.
“We are always open to feedback about HYDR, but it’s our job to steer it and make sure we stay true to the heart of what we intended it to be,” Pentecost said of future growth. “I want it to come honestly and naturally and have a life of its own.”
All of HYDR’s products can be found at hellyeahdamnright.com.
