Speed dating requires swift judgments, often with limited information to base those decisions on. So, personal care brand Native introduced an additional element to assist speed daters on the viral YouTube series “The Button” in making their romantic decisions—smell.
The Procter & Gamble brand partnered with entertainment company Cut Media, producer of “The Button,” to support Native’s holiday collection of deodorants, lotions and other personal care items categorized as either “naughty” or “nice” based on their scents. In four sponsored episodes of the series, released over the past month, the show’s participants chose to wear “nice” scents, such as Candy Cane or Sugar Cookie, or “naughty” scents such as Lump of Coal or Fresh Mistletoe, to reveal to potential partners which end of the seasonal spectrum they align with.
Native is the first brand to sponsor “The Button,” which Cut Media relaunched this July after the coronavirus pandemic prematurely shuttered the series in early 2020, said Abigale Smith, Cut Media’s VP of partnerships. The show revolves around speed dating sessions in which contestants sit across from each other at a table with the series titular button—which also speaks to the contestants—in the middle. Each pair has a short period to try to get to know each other, but also have the opportunity to swap out their counterpart by pressing the button.