The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
When Dennis Malbone advertised Anti Monkey Butt Powder on the roadside sign in front of his dad's feed and seed store, naturally, some questions arose.
"Everybody thinks it's for a monkey," Malbone said. "It's not for a monkey. It's for sweat."
Sweat and the frictional skin irritation people experience when they ride for hours, according to the product's Web site.
"If your butt is so sore that you have to walk bowlegged like a monkey, you have Monkey Butt!" the site advises.
He's been stocking the powder at Malbone's Feed & Seed Ltd., at 1569 Princess Anne Road in the Pungo area, for more than a year. Other area shops also carry the product.
A lot of people buy the 6-ounce bottle featuring a grinning monkey flashing a thumbs up as a gag gift for Christmas, he said.
But the warmer months bring customers such as motorcyclists, horseback riders and bicyclists seeking relief from chafing, Malbone said.
"One of my customers has a construction company," he said. "He's bought it for all his roofers."
Malbone's even had a few women pay the $6.95 he charges for the powder.
Becky Cattani of Back Bay bought some Anti Monkey Butt last summer for her 14-year-old son, David.
"He chafes really bad, because he wears those tight pants " for skateboarding, she said.
She'd heard some construction workers rave about the various body parts soothed by an application of Anti Monkey Butt.
"Their feet and you know, other areas that they chafe in when they're sweaty," Becky Cattani said.
Her son had tried cornstarch. That absorbed the sweat, but didn't get rid of the problem. Baby powder just stopped the itching.
"And then I used Monkey Butt Powder, and that has a cooling feeling to it," David said. "And that stopped the inflammation."
Jen McCaffery, (757) 222-5119, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com
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