Three-minute comedy ads sold men on soap.
Dr. Squatch ran long, funny YouTube ads that explained why to switch, kept buyers with subscriptions and limited drops, then took the demand into Walmart and sold to Unilever in 2025.
BLOOM10X did not work with Dr. Squatch. This breakdown uses public sources only, linked below.
- 2013Launches online with handmade bar soap
- May 2018Posts a 3:10 comedy ad on YouTube
- Feb 2021First Super Bowl ad
- Nov 20211,600+ Walmart stores
- Nov 2022$275M+ in yearly sales
- Sep 2025Unilever completes the purchase
Five plays behind the growth.
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Make one long ad that teaches
The May 2018 ad runs 3:10 and has 123M views. Its 2020 follow-up, “Save Your Skin,” runs 4:41 and has 176M (YouTube, Nov 2026).
Founder Jack Haldrup calls it a problem-solution script: most men never chose their soap, Dr. Squatch is the fix, and the comedy is “the icing on the cake” (Minds of Ecommerce, Sep 2019).
Copy this: write a 2–3 minute problem-solution ad. Put the call-out in the first 5 seconds, before YouTube’s skip button.
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Spend only while it pays back
By 2019 the brand shipped 5,000+ bars a day to 200,000+ customers. Haldrup said the reach came from spend that kept earning a return, not luck (Minds of Ecommerce).
Facebook later stopped the first video over its bleeped swear word, and the views and comments on that post stopped working for the brand.
Copy this: track days to payback per ad, and keep evergreen ads inside platform rules so their proof keeps piling up.
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Give buyers a reason to come back
Subscribe & Save takes 15% off with free shipping and pause or cancel anytime. A 6-bar box shows $36 with $12 saved (drsquatch.com, Nov 2026).
Its first limited soap, tied to the 2019 Area 51 meme, sold out. Star Wars and Halo collabs followed, which the CMO says raised lifetime value (Glossy, Nov 2021).
Copy this: offer a subscription with easy pause, and a drop calendar that goes to past buyers first.
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Post memes, not polish
Haldrup said a meme got 3–15x the likes, reach and engagement of other posts, so launches and sales moved to memes (Minds of Ecommerce).
In 2021 TikTok took 15% of the ad budget, and Instagram neared 500,000 followers (Glossy).
Copy this: turn survey answers into posts. Their buyers said partners liked the smell, and that became a meme.
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Prove demand online, then go to shelves
The 2021 Super Bowl ad pushed Amazon searches for “Dr Squatch” up 492% (Retail Dive, Feb 2021). Nine months later it entered 1,600+ Walmart stores (Retail Dive, Nov 2021), because, the CMO said, the top reason people didn’t buy was that it sold online.
By November 2022 sales passed $275M a year and paid media was “more balanced” across channels (MediaPost). Unilever named its “viral social-first marketing” when it agreed to buy.
Copy this: pitch retail once branded search and Amazon reviews prove people ask for you by name. Keep the content engine running.
The 2018 ad, beat by beat.
- 1“Listen up.”Most men use whatever soap their mother bought. The bleeped line lands 3 seconds in, before the skip button (Shorty Awards entry, 2020).
- 2Who it’s for“Men who open the pickle jar on the first try.” The entry says 85% of customers were men.
- 3Scent menuPine Tar, Nautical Sage, Bay Rum, one joke each.
- 4The enemy“Big soap” swapped natural oils for sulfates and parabens.
- 5ProofTwo customer reviews, read out as jokes.
- 6OfferShipped to your door, 100% satisfaction guarantee, “click the link,” then an outtake.
Timings from the ad’s captions on Dr. Squatch’s YouTube channel, viewed Nov 10, 2026.
Four ads from their own channel.
“…we can continue to put money behind it and make a profitable return. At the end of the day, that’s really our business model.”
“Bar soap is not a product that has traditionally been a direct-to-consumer product.”
Sourced figures, with our math.
Sales, as reported
The loop they ran
614 live Meta ads, mostly offers.
Most live ads sell a bundle to new customers. Pick one to see the ad and where it points.
“Early Black Friday deal”
A static image: a plush toy, a stocking and a stack of soaps, “45% off” and “new customer exclusive.” It started Nov 9, 2026, weeks before Black Friday.
The link goes to a gift bundle page at $99.99 with $181 struck through, which is 45% off.
“3 free gifts from Dr. Squatch? Don’t mind if we do”
A vertical video with an on-screen caption in a group-chat voice. It has multiple versions in the library.
It sends buyers to the Launch Bundle page below: 6 soaps, 2 deodorants and 3 free gifts.
“New! Home Alone soap”
A licensed movie soap, sold as limited edition with “will sell out fast.” The same drop leads the homepage.
Licensed drops give past buyers a reason to order again without a discount.
“Free travel bag + 50% off | Final days”
A creator-style video. The copy says “New customers only” and stacks a free bag on top of half off soap, deodorant and cologne.
The offer is aimed at first orders, not the existing list.
“Thanks for ordering from Dr. Squatch!”
A video for people who already bought: the founder welcomes them to “Squatch Nation,” and the card repeats the 100% money-back guarantee.
It started Jan 22, 2024 and was still live on Nov 10, 2026. Our math: 1,023 days running.
Screenshots of active US ads on Dr. Squatch’s page in the Meta Ad Library, taken Nov 10, 2026. Click an image to enlarge.
A bundle page built for one offer.
The “3 free gifts” ad lands on a bundle page set to noindex, so search engines skip it and the traffic comes from ads. The Black Friday page is built the same way. Tap a number to see what each part does.
- 1Gifts as line itemsSoap Gripper, Bricc House and Toiletry Bag each sit in the bundle list with a “Free” tag, so the extra value is visible before checkout.
- 2One-time, priced as the worse deal$68 against a $133 strike price, “Save 49%.”
- 3Subscribe is preselected$58, “Save 56%.” Our math: $68 − $58 = $10 more off for subscribing; $133 − $58 = $75 off list.
- 4The fear answered in the boxFree shipping, cancel anytime, pause or skip anytime. The 6-bar subscription ships every 3 months, per the homepage.
- 5One action“Buy Now,” not “Add to cart.” Our math: $58 ÷ 8 products (6 soaps, 2 deodorants) = $7.25 each before the gifts.
Read it with three caveats.
- A huge market. Close to 100% of men use soap, the CMO said in 2022. A niche product won’t find 100M viewers who need it.
- One comedian, years of voice. James Schrader has written and starred since the 2018 ad, per its YouTube credits. A brief to a new freelancer won’t copy that.
- Big-game money. A 30-second Super Bowl spot cost about $5.6M in 2021 (Kantar via Retail Dive).
- What we’d change: Haldrup says he’d have tracked payback and raised money sooner. We’d set the payback target before the first long ad ships.
Six moves for a $1M–$10M brand.
- Script one 2–3 minute problem-solution ad, call-out first. Creative →
- Judge each ad on hook rate and payback, not views. CAC calculator →
- Price subscribe-and-save so it still clears margin. Margin calculator →
- Know what a subscriber is worth before you discount. LTV calculator →
- Send limited drops to past buyers first by email and SMS. Retention →
- Refresh before the long ad wears out. Ad fatigue →
Where every number comes from.
- “Unilever to acquire men’s personal care brand Dr. Squatch,” Unilever press release, Jun 23, 2025. unilever.com
- “Q4 and Full Year 2025 Results,” Unilever, 2026: acquired 98.7% on Sep 2, 2025 for €1,243M. unilever.com (PDF)
- Abigail Summerville and Anirban Sen, “Private equity owner of Dr. Squatch explores $2 bln-plus sale of personal care brand,” Reuters, Apr 3, 2024. reuters.com
- “Unilever And TSG Consumer Man Up With Dr. Squatch, Dude Wipes Deals,” Beauty Independent, Jun 2025, citing WWD on $400M+ sales. beautyindependent.com
- Peter Adams, “Unilever acquires Dr. Squatch, valuing brand’s viral marketing to Gen Z men,” Marketing Dive, Jun 23, 2025. marketingdive.com
- Maria Monteros, “Dr. Squatch rolls out personal care products at Walmart,” Retail Dive, Nov 23, 2021. retaildive.com
- Maria Monteros, “DTC soap brand’s first Super Bowl ad reaps rewards in market share,” Retail Dive, Feb 17, 2021. retaildive.com
- Liz Flora, “Memes, ‘Halo’ and TikTok: Inside Dr. Squatch’s 400% growth,” Glossy, Nov 24, 2021. glossy.co
- Sarah Mahoney, “Dr. Squatch Expands Into Lotion, Extends Retail Footprint,” MediaPost, Nov 10, 2022. mediapost.com
- Jack Haldrup, “How Dr. Squatch Grew to 100k+ Orders/Year Through a Viral Video,” Minds of Ecommerce ep. 8, SplitBase, Sep 4, 2019. splitbase.com
- “YouTube: Just What The Dr. (Squatch) Ordered,” entry by Dr. Squatch, 12th Shorty Awards, 2020. shortyawards.com
- Dr. Squatch YouTube channel: videos cjEK7qQKRDY, x1TtIt5tdP8, vDHNMqOLw_o, wDvRhWKTJiU; views read Nov 10, 2026. youtube.com/@DrSquatch
- Dr. Squatch subscription page, viewed Nov 10, 2026. drsquatch.com
- Meta Ad Library, active US ads for the Dr. Squatch page, viewed Nov 10, 2026. facebook.com/ads/library
