health and beauty aids

Schick Tackles 'Greentimidation' With New Bamboo Razor

Schick wants to help women use a little less plastic. So it’s introducing Schick Intuition Bamboo, a hybrid bamboo razor, with ads that gleefully spoof the complexity of living a greener life.

The campaign stars Beth (“Two Broke Girls”) Behrs, who portrays someone who has gone way over the top in greening up her personal care routine. Besides growing her own edible bathmats, powering her hot water with a spin bike and filming the spot from her homemade compostable vase/toilet, she’s also made the switch to the new razor.

This is the company’s latest step toward “more environmentally kind products,” says Amy Knight, vice president, global sustainability at Edgewell. “It’s got a durable bamboo handle and blades made from recycled steel.”

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She tells Marketing Daily the idea is to playfully encourage consumers to take “small steps in making their routine a little kinder to the environment, without making tremendous sacrifices. They’ll still get the same great shave.”

The campaign is  based on the realization that while consumers are aware of the environmental crisis, they don’t want to get beat up about it.

“We thought humor was the best way to have the message stick,” says Anthony Pietrini, head of marketing for Schick’s women’s and men’s hair removal. “We know the environment is a heavy, serious topic. We wanted to get our message across in a way that was relevant and authentic to our brand voice and also resonate with the consumer.”

And at a time when much environmental news seems determined to shame people, “we want consumers to know that little steps do matter.”

Knight says the approach also fits well with the company’s purpose, “which is to make useful things joyful.”

The campaign, created by Edelman, is primarily running in social channels, another reason the team wanted it to be funny. “We’ve made it snackable and shareable,”  says Pietrini.

Beyond impressions, the company is also closely tracking brand sentiment metrics. “We’ll learn from that and pivot our messaging as appropriate,” says Pietrini.

Knight says the new razor is part of Edgewell’s mission to be fully sustainable by 2030. It’s been working on sustainability improvements throughout the portfolio for years, including finding ways to incorporate more recycled materials into design.

Part of that push has been to gain third-party certifications to help overcome consumers’ growing suspicion of corporate environmental claims. Those certifications now include about 60% of Schick’s North American product portfolio and will continue to includes all brands.

That skepticism is why Edgewell is also enlisting the help of micro and nano influencers for the product launch, says Pietrini. “That community of thought leaders adds to our credibility and comes across in a more authentic way than our corporate voice would.”

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