US Ad of the Day: Eos chafes toxic masculinity in first campaign for men’s products

The campaign, titled ‘Unmanhandle your face’ comprises two new hero spots – ‘Smells like bros’ and ‘Gorilla fighting’ – which follow men who discover the new Eos Shave Cream while perusing the aisles of a supermarket.

In ‘Gorilla fighting,’ a man spots Eos Shave Cream on the shelf. Suddenly, he’s approached by another man, who appears like a stereotypical ’tool.’ The tool offers him a product that he claims will make him “man enough to fight a gorilla” – until a woman in a gorilla costume takes him to the ground with one blow.

‘Smells like bros’ follows another male shopper who gets interrupted by the same tool. In an attempt to persuade the shopper not to buy Eos Shave Cream, the tool shows him a product that instead “smells like sawdust and not dealing with criticism very well ... Smells like mahogany [and] telling chicks to smile more.”

In recent years, Eos has expanded far beyond lip balms and into other categories. Take women’s skincare products, for example. The brand says its women’s shave cream accounted for 53% of total category growth in 2022, earning it the #1 spot among Gen Z women.

This latest campaign marks the brand's entrance into yet another product category: men’s self-care. “We’re confident Eos can win over male-identifying consumers by continuing to lean into our signature style of bold, convention-defying marketing,“ said Soyoung Kang, chief marketing officer at Eos, in a statement.

“We’ve found immense success and extreme growth in our women’s business by stepping away from how things are usually done in the skincare industry and prioritizing fun, speed, and realness with how the brand talks and engages with its community.”

The campaign was developed by the brand’s agency of record, Mischief @ No Fixed Address. “The men’s skincare category is already saturated with exaggerated hyper-masculinity,” said Tanner Thompson, associate creative director at Mischief. “There are plenty of products for men with perfect jawlines and soaring crypto investments. But what about the normal guys who call their moms back and don’t make vests their personality? The guys who just want a good, moisturizing shave cream? This campaign, and this new product, is for them.”

Credits

Agency: Mischief @ No Fixed Address

Production: Strike Anywhere

Post: Good Behavior

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