Billie Sustains Brand Buzz with Chia Pet in Hilarious Body Hair Celebration

Quick listen: How Billie turned a Chia Pet into a viral body hair celebration and what brands can learn from it.

Who would've thought growing plants could promote hair positivity?

Billie just launched its latest quirky and attention-grabbing collab.

This time, the female-first personal care brand has partnered with Chia Pet to create a '90s-inspired product that will have you singing "B-B-B-Billie!"

With Billie Chia Pet, you can now grow chia sprouts in your armpits. Well, not really.

But you can grow them on your very own Chia Pet modeled after a woman striking a confident pose, arms up for all to see.

Think of it as your personal patch of armpit greenery.

Billie Co-General Manager Catherine Wolpe told DesignRush that the brand's creative choices are driven by a bigger mission:

"We’re always thinking about unusual and disruptive ways to highlight the fact that whether or not a woman chooses to remove their body hair should be completely up to them — not something they feel pressured to do in order to meet externally dictated (and often contradictory) 'beauty' standards."

This has always been the company's mantra, reflecting brand values that prioritize autonomy and challenge outdated norms.

The unique Billie Chia Pet product comes a few months after its last Scratch-and-Sniff OOH ads went viral. 

Aiming to sustain this momentum, Billie thought of this nostalgic product to promote body hair positivity in women.

"We wanted to create a physical representation of a more celebratory, joyful lens on women’s body hair. We also tend to find a lot of inspiration in nostalgic references and like finding fresh takes on the familiar.

Hence, the Billie Chia Pet was born. It’s an uplifting, physical celebration of fuzz, brought to life in partnership with one of the original icons of 'grow it and show it,'" Wolpe shared.

The campaign will be supported by OOH ad placements in retro-style Chia Pet visuals throughout Los Angeles and New York City.

A Trip Down the '90s Memory Lane

For the younger ones, an explanation may be in order. Chia Pet is a novelty terracotta planter that was first mass-produced in 1982 by Joseph Enterprises.

Using animals as molds, chia sprouts grow in strategic places to look like hair.

Chia Pet became part of pop culture for its catchy "Ch‑ch‑ch‑chia!" jingle in a TV commercial that became stuck in everyone's heads in the '90s.

It became so popular that it even sparked a Saturday Night Live parody. 

Chia Pet has since created products inspired by popular Looney Tunes, Disney, Marvel, Jurassic World, and Star Wars characters.

It even ventured into producing seasonal planters for Christmas and Halloween, as well as famous public figures like Richard Simmons, Willie Nelson, and Former President Barack Obama.

And these near-templated ads are what Billie has channeled for its very own Chia Pet commercial, inserting its own brand of humor and advocacy.

"It’s fun. It’s fuzzy. It’s free from all societal shame and beauty standards!

Just soak, spread, hydrate, and watch it grow! All your pits need is water, sunlight, and a judgment-free zone," the narrator says.

The informercial-like spot certainly drives Billie's message across in a way that's catchy and memorable. 

Our Take: Why Does Nostalgia Still Work This Well?

I've noticed that the trend now is bringing back past trends, whether in fashion, entertainment, or advertising. 

Everything and everyone's going retro!

Nostalgia marketing can be a shortcut to real engagement, but it only works if the reference has real cultural weight and fits the brand’s purpose and identity.

Billie’s Chia Pet collab checks both boxes. The humor makes it easily shareable, and the retro styling makes it instantly recognizable.

More importantly, the brand values make it relevant to modern conversation around body hair positivity.

I really love how Billie recreated the commercials that Chia Pet has become known for, naturally matching the cadence with its brand message.

Everything just fits, and this is when nostalgia becomes a story people can relate to and remember.

For brand and marketing leaders, here are the takeaways:

• Tie nostalgia to your mission: Make sure the throwback connects directly to both your brand’s current purpose and your audience’s memories.
• Combine familiarity with surprise. Consumers need to recognize the reference instantly, but also see it in a way they haven’t before.
• Let the tone match the medium. Billie’s choice of an infomercial-style spot mirrors the Chia Pet’s original fame, which makes the joke land harder and the message stick longer.

The best nostalgia campaigns anchor nostalgic feelings in the present, where they can influence perception and purchase. And Billie did exactly this.

This is what makes retro campaigns be remembered, talked about, and seen as part of the culture.

Cultural memory is a powerful tool if it’s used with purpose. These agencies ensure every creative choice is intentional and on-brand: