Last week, actor Ben Affleck closed out one of the worst years on record by appearing to nearly drop a tray of iced coffees and Dunkin’ munchkins, a relatable, everyman moment caught on camera that was brimming with Boston clichés.
While the brief fumble may have been less than flattering for the A-lister from Cambridge — pictures of it ricocheted around the Internet and quickly became meme-worthy — it proved to be another boon for a local clothing company.
At the time of the near-spill, which even Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston connected with, Affleck was wearing a “Believe in Boston” T-shirt created by Sully’s Brand, a Peabody-based sports apparel company.
After the pictures taken by the paparazzi went viral, the local clothing manufacturer saw a slight uptick in sales interest for that particular item. It also didn’t miss the opportunity to promote its product while coming to Affleck’s defense.
“You saw the fumble photos the other day. It happens. You’ve got your arms full of coffee and the next thing you know, some jerk is taking your photo as they slip out of your hands,” the company wrote in an Instagram post, offering a specialty package containing the Affleck shirt and a personalized Dunkin’ gift card.
Chris Wrenn, who founded Sully’s Brand in 2003, said he sent Affleck a stack of Boston-themed T-shirts at the start of the pandemic, along with a note thanking him for representing the brand over the years. The gift was to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of Affleck’s movie “The Town,” which was filmed in Boston and included a scene of the actor wearing one of the company’s shirts.
To Wrenn’s surprise, the shirts he sent him (including the “Believe in Boston” one) seemed to become go-to gear for Affleck during the pandemic. On more than one occasion when he has stepped out in public and been photographed by the press, he was wearing Sully’s Brand gear. Affleck’s reps also have ordered additional shirts, Wrenn said.
“Every time the paparazzi would catch him wearing a T-shirt, we would sell a handful, and it was great,” Wrenn said.
Wrenn said probably no image of Affleck in one of their shirts was seen more than his juggle outside of his Los Angeles home, an image that became the perfect encapsulation of a tumultuous and exhausting year.
And perhaps no one related to the picture more than Wrenn himself.
Just months earlier, while bringing a coffee and smoothie order back to the office on a rainy day, Wrenn dropped the drinks all over the front of his shirt as he tried to close his car door with his foot. The frustration — the last straw, maybe? — bubbled over.
“I just literally yelled up at the sky,” he recalled. “But that’s basically what [Affleck] was going through, it looked like. And a lot of people said, ‘You know what, I’ve been there.’ ”
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him @steveannear.