Dollar Shave Club's AI Ad: Key Findings
Campaign Snapshot
Dollar Shave Club just released its first AI-generated commercial, and this time the technology itself is the target.
"We Put Our Money Where It Matters" shows the fictional Razor Corp scrambling to cut costs after launching its "best razor ever."
The spot shows how the DTC brand can use generative AI in marketing while poking fun at companies that treat the technology as a solution to everything.
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Developed with creative boutique Too Short For Modeling, the campaign took just weeks to produce.
The launch timing matters after McDonald's Netherlands pulled its AI-generated holiday ad this week following intense backlash.
Coca-Cola's AI holiday campaigns also continue to spark criticism for lacking human warmth.
In response, Dollar Shave Club is providing cover by making AI overuse the punchline rather than the solution.
AI Use Becomes the Joke
The 60-second spot shows a CEO in Razor Corp's boardroom, rejecting practical ideas like selling a private jet or removing an in-office DJ.
Finally, he lands on simply replacing employees with AI.
AI-generated visuals include a towering razor-shaped skyscraper and "animal testing" scenes showing a gorilla shaving in a mirror.
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The campaign positions AI as just another absurd corporate indulgence, making the CEO's suggestion the most ridiculous option.
At the same time, it highlights how creative production should serve the product without replacing strategic thinking.
Balancing AI Use With Brand Authenticity
Dollar Shave Club built its reputation by targeting Gillette, its main competitor, with cheap viral ads in the early 2010s.
The brand is now keeping its same irreverent approach with the use of AI, proving it can evolve without losing its edge.
After Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion in 2016 and sold it to private equity in 2023, it's managed to keep its marketing strategy consistent.
Earlier this year, "The Club" brought back Dollar Shave Club's signature humor with a gentleman's club concept celebrating personal grooming choices.
This AI spot proves the brand can move between authentic human storytelling and AI efficiency, depending on what the creative needs.
Dollar Shave Club's latest campaign offers key lessons for generative AI use in marketing, especially as major brands face backlash for their emotionally flat work:
- Make the technology part of the critique: Showing a CEO choose automation over cutting a private jet lets audiences laugh at AI instead of questioning its use.
- Acknowledge consumer skepticism directly: The spot frames AI overreliance as corporate absurdity, which validates people's current concerns.
- Learn from others' missteps publicly: Releasing an AI ad that critiques AI shows Dollar Shave Club has seen other brands' failures and is taking a different approach.
These lessons can separate brands that use AI thoughtfully from those who are experimenting without a real strategy.
Our Take: Can AI Ads Work If AI Is the Joke?
I think Dollar Shave Club found a sweet spot here, that other brands seem to have missed when using generative AI in marketing.
Instead of pretending the technology doesn't carry baggage, the brand has made the baggage part of the story.
Releasing this spot the same week McDonald's pulled its disastrous holiday spot also shows that Dollar Shave Club understands the conversation happening around AI-generated ads.
A commercial that jokes about AI feels fresh right now, though I think repeating this formula too often could wear thin.
For now, Dollar Shave Club proves that an honest take about everyone's current AI skepticism is a great way to build brand authenticity.
In other related news, Svedka vodka is testing whether Super Bowl audiences will accept AI-generated creative with its Fembot revival.
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