As gamers celebrate the release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the title’s launch has left many hair salons reportedly flooded with dudes who insist they could pull off hairstyles mimicking Cloud and Sephiroth.
Salon owners say that while men thinking they can pull off one of these hairstyles isn’t new, the release of the game has caused a huge surge that they’re struggling to keep up with.
“We’ve been getting dudes like this years. Adult men, with shaggy hair and usually wearing either plaid or a henley shirt come in requesting one of these hairstyles. But now that Rebirth is out we’re just bombarded with these dudes all day,” said Tammy Struthers, a salon owner in North Dakota. “No matter how many times we try to tell them that they can’t pull off this ridiculous look, they insist they can. It’s taking away from real customers.”
“If a twinky guy like Cloud can have that hair and pull a girl like Aerith then of course I can. The customer is always right and these salons need to just give us what we want and make us look cool,” one customer who asked to remain anonymous said. “Sephiroth is all dark and disturbed but he’s also really cool and so am I. He’s literally me so it makes sense that I could pull off that hairstyle. I don’t know why these supposed professionals can’t see that.”
The surge of these dudes is reportedly causing many salons to lose business, but the owners are hopeful it will pass.
“We’re losing a lot of real clients because it just takes so long to get these dudes out. And if real clients aren’t leaving due to extended waiting times, they leave because Sephiroth dudes and Cloud dudes start play-fighting in the waiting area. This kind of thing happens whenever a Final Fantasy launches so we know it’s temporary but the key is whether we can survive the loss of business before it fades,” said Struthers.
At press time, many of the Cloud haircut dudes were seen going to Claire’s to get ear piercings.
