Manscaped’s Bold Move: Turning a Rough Idea into a Big‑Screen Hit

Manscaped began as an eye‑opening moment for a Vietnamese immigrant who saw that men’s grooming lacked any real options. While women had countless products, the area below the waist stayed untouched, creating a quiet void in conversation and innovation.

In 2016 he answered that silence by launching a brand focused on men’s groin care. The name itself broke taboos, and the idea stuck—now 13 million men use Manscaped tools and the company is worth about a billion dollars.

The next step was to make the brand unforgettable: a Super Bowl commercial that turned an everyday task into a theatrical moment.

The 30‑second spot shows cartoonish hair creatures lamenting their removal, singing a surprisingly heartfelt ballad about being cut off. No famous faces or models—just quirky, oddly endearing clumps of hair that give a voice to the usually ignored part of grooming.

“People find hair gross when it leaves our bodies,” Marcelo Kertész, Manscaped’s chief marketing officer, explained. “Giving that hair a voice was the most honest, entertaining way to tell our story.”

Kertész’s background is diverse: he started in Brazil’s competitive advertising scene, worked in political marketing, and later moved to the U.S. before landing at Manscaped. His varied experience helps him see what makes a brand stick in culture.

He believes the brand’s unique blend of humor and quality is its biggest strength. “That mix feels powerful,” he said, noting that some of it might have come from necessity rather than design.

The commercial’s timing—just before kickoff—positions grooming as a pre‑game ritual, turning the act of shaving into an almost ceremonial event.

Manscaped’s strategy shows that a bold, unconventional idea can become a cultural moment when it speaks directly to people’s unspoken needs.