Men’s crotches get unwelcome visitors in Manscaped’s ads for its ‘ball deodorant’

Dogs have no shame when it comes to their olfactory investigations, which leads to amusingly awkward scenarios in Manscaped’s new print ads for its “Ball Deodorant” product. Three ads were shot in street-photography style by DDB New York and photographer Emiliano Granado. Each shows a dog getting up close and personal with a guy who could probably use the product. There’s a beach scene, a tourist scene and a finance-bros scenes, all crafted to look spontaneous. Paulo Junger, executive creative director at DDB New York, said the agency was looking to address the awkward topic in an approachable way—and the creative team, including CD Mussashi Shintaku, found dog behavior to be a great way in. “Everyone’s been in that situation, right? You feel like, OK, what should I do? You try to divert the attention. ‘Maybe he's smelling my dog,’” said Junger. “Manscaped is always trying to change the perception of how men take care of their private parts. Nobody really talks about it. For women, it's more comfortable. They want really to change the perception for men.” They shot the ads in midtown and downtown New York City, as well as Coney Island in Brooklyn. They cast for the lead roles, but also used some real people as the bystanders. They hid dog treats in the guys’ pants—then just tried to capture as much spontaneity as possible. “It was a really fun and light production,” said Junger. “We were trying to get that street photography vibe, to feel more raw and real, like the moment was really happening.” At one point they considered doing video, but soon realized print was the way to go. “The story is really told in one frame, so we leaned into that,” said Mat Bisher, chief creative officer of DDB New York. Aside from the product shot, the ads have no copy, enhancing the minimalist vibe. “We had kind of gone back and forth, does it need a line to explain it?” said Bisher. “One of the main reasons we didn't have a line was, half of the people, when they looked at it, read it as though the individual has used the product, and half read it as though the person has not. We actually viewed that as a positive. Either way it tells the story of what the product does.” The ads will be running in men’s magazines, as well as in newspapers and social.

Men’s crotches get unwelcome visitors in Manscaped’s ads for its ‘ball deodorant’

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