Dollar Shave Club, known for its razors and grooming items for men, has launched a new line of products for women that includes both razors and hair removal gels and creams. The movement represents the company’s expansion in the category, and is communicated with a campaign that, precisely, challenges its communication convections.
The brand gets rid of the advertising clichés that have defined both the products and the marketing of this type of items for women, such as the color pink or glitter; or delicate staging, almost linked to the dreamlike. Instead, the new range is presented with an advertisement that reinforces Dollar Shave Club in its proposal around high-quality products without unnecessary artifice; and that conveys that feminine personal care does not have to sacrifice quality or price.
Thus, one of the spots that make up the campaign, created by the brand’s internal team, denounces the use of “pastel pink” packaging, elusive mangoes or the high prices of the competition, positioning the new line as simple and effective. In line with the irreverent tone of Dollar Shave Club, the stance is personified by a woman who presents the brand’s products as the most practical alternative having been tested “with the most stubborn hair we could find: the man’s”.
“For years, other brands have been selling you pink-handled razors, with more blades than you can count, and promoting them as if they were the work of angels. And on top of that, they charge you an exorbitant price.“; they have pointed out from the brand when sharing the advertisement on digital platforms. “We believe that this is a farce. That’s why we created a razor for you. It won’t sing to you, nor does it come in “rose quartz” or “bright pink” color. It is a high quality razor that will give you a perfect shave at a fair price.”.
The second spot of the campaign continues the same discourse and expands the tone and personality of the brand, but has opted for the use of artificial intelligence. Also resorting to humor, the piece presents a series of anthropomorphic and animated hygiene items that attend the arrival of Dollar Shave Club products and are replaced. Thus, a shiny pink razor is thrown into a trash can, where there is already a magazine with the headline “AI videos with Sora”, in a cultural nod to the OpenAI video generator, which recently announced its closure.
As reported by Marketing Dive, the launch of a traditional advertisement and another created with generative AI is part of an experiment by the brand to study and analyze the behavior of both on various platforms and before different audiences. Thus, the brand considers that the first will perform better on Meta and Google, while the second will work better with generation Z on TikTok.
Dollar Shave Club’s new line of women’s products features handles optimized for various hand positions and body parts, six blade edges, and a wall mount. In addition, it is accompanied by accessories such as gels and creams with moisturizing ingredients that include argan oil, hyaluronic acid or shea butter.
“For over a decade, we’ve eliminated redundant products sold to men. Now, we are happy to do exactly the same for women“said Larry Bodner, CEO of Dollar Shave Club, in a statement. “We’re not here to tell you how to shave, where to shave, or even if you should shave. That’s your business. Our business is to offer you high-performance tools that do their job at an affordable price.”.
