When you call Fathead Threads, a Tennessee-based embroidery and apparel brand, a deep South-inflected twang is on the voicemail: “If you’re looking for Hawk Tuah hats, head to Facebook,” the voice says. The owner of the voice is Jason Poteete, who is currently in the bizarre position of serving as a brand manager for one of the most famous women in the country right now: a young, folksy blonde woman advocating for expectoration during oral sex. The now-immortal phrase “Hawk Tuah” was coined by Hailey Welch, a young woman who on June 11 made internet history during a woman-on-the-street interview with the content creators Tim & Dee TV.
In the clip, Welch is asked such R-rated questions about her preferred sexual positions, as well as a “move in bed [that] makes a man go crazy every time.” When asked that final question, she proffers the following: “You gotta give ’em that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang.” Over the past week, the clip has gone massively viral, and has been referenced by everyone from Joe Rogan to Howard Stern to the Phillies’ Bryce Harper.
And though there is plenty of Hawk Tuah-themed merch circulating on the internet — including from the shop for Tim & Dee itself — there is only one officially Hawk Tuah Girl-licensed Hawk Tuah merch vendor: Fathead Threads, a family-owned business based in Marshall County, Tennessee. The brand is run by Poteete, a Marshall County native who has known Welch for years. He tells Rolling Stone tha.
