Dollar Shave Club made its name in 2012 with this excellent 90-second online ad, featuring founder and CEO Michael Dubin charismatically delivering the message himself. Now, two years and one American Express ad later, Dubin is back—and ready to take Dollar Shave Club to television.
Four spots, which begin airing nationally today, stick with the cutting humor that's made the brand popular with young, impecunious razor buyers. Not surprising for a mail-order service, the ads emphasize convenience—but they do so in amusingly hyperbolic fashion by comically playing up the inconvenience of buying razors at the store.
Actually, it's not so much inconvenient as it is literally painful and even dangerous, according to this slapstick campaign. The store purchasers are confounded, ridiculed and abused every step of the way, as the ads gleefully mock rival products' price and inaccessibility in stores. Most amusing is the campaign's take on how stores lock up razors like golden treasures, making buyers feel like a would-be thieves. (And they're very much treated as such here.)
Dubin co-wrote the spots with Alec Brownstein and makes an appearance at the end of each one—wisely weaving his personality into the campaign. Steve Miller directed through Radical Media. Sharply written and perfectly cast, they should do well for the brand.
CREDITS
Client: Dollar Shave Club
Founder, CEO, Writer: Michael Dubin
Creative Director: Alec Brownstein
Production Partners: Zebra, Radical Media
Director: Steve Miller