Manscaped, the men’s grooming brand that got its start selling hair trimmers for the nether regions, is sending a new message to men: If you’re texting unsolicited pictures, you might want to capture a different part of the body.
A new campaign, “Send Face Pics Instead,” features a 30-second spot depicting women’s reactions to receiving surprising new images, having become accustomed to men’s “oversharing.”
The brand aims to highlight an expanded product line that includes face and beard products that consumers may not associate with the brand.
Developed with creative agency Special U.S., the spot strives for a lighthearted and humorous connection between the product and a positive message—one that encourages confidence in men and discourages making women feel uncomfortable.
According to original research from the O.R.G.A.S.M. Lab at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 51% of men have sent an unsolicited dick pic, but only 4% of women have had a positive response to receiving it. When Manscaped CMO Marcelo Kertesz discovered this statistic, he knew it had to go into the work.
“We knew what we are talking about, but in today’s world, it’s very easy to be misunderstood,” he told ADWEEK. “We wanted to be unequivocally on the right side—we wanted some science to back it up.”
David Horton, executive creative director and partner at Special U.S., added, “There was this huge discrepancy between the men who admitted to sending pics and the women who said they got them. [Finding] somebody who has actually studied it and is putting numbers behind—it was shocking, and not shocking.”
The spot was directed by Jess Coulter of New York-based production company O Positive. She has a comedy background and was brought in to infuse the campaign with humor.
With a humorous approach, “you can have a real conversation because you’re pointing at the absurdity in the topic,” Horton said. “It’s a really good way to [talk] about anything that might feel sensitive or a little bit out of bounds. [Manscaped is] so good at that, and it’s something we really wanted to help them continue.”
“[It] shows that we make jokes about ourselves. It shows that this is something you can take with as much or as little intensity as you want,” Kertesz added.
Grooming men’s grooming
“Send Face Pics Instead” is Manscaped’s latest entry in the personal care industry’s reckoning with masculinity and marketing to men.
Brands like Harry’s, Every Man Jack, and eos have dedicated creative work to challenging tropes and preconceptions related to male behavior as the category has exploded in recent years. This comes alongside the growing influence of the “manosphere” within the political backdrop of the U.S. and more frequent call-outs of men’s toxic behavior in culture more generally.
Manscaped has a history of trying to destigmatize, lighten the conversation, and encourage improved behavior without coming off as preachy.
“In the end, after all the humor and conversation, what we want is two things: men to be better and men to be more attractive,” Kertesz said. “We are very careful to not overstep what we believe to be our boundaries. We want to be this lighthearted force towards evolution.”
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