The CEO of Dollar Shave Club vowed that the company would return to its roots after its corporate owner "neutered" the brand, Fortune Magazine reported.
"They neutered the voice of the brand. They tried to make it too corporate, and they lost that irreverent, ‘on the edge’ humor. And when you do that, you lose the consumer," Dollar Shave Club CEO Larry Bodner said.
Dollar Shave Club was founded in 2012, launching with an irreverent YouTube video known for its tagline "our razors are f------ great." Dollar Shave Club was sold to Unilever in 2016, and in 2023 Unilever sold a majority stake in the company to Nexus Capital Management, a private equity firm.
"Hi, I’m Mike, the founder of DollarShaveClub.com," former Dollar Shave Club CEO Mike Dubin said in the 2012 ad. "What is DollarShaveClub.com? Well, for a dollar a month, we send high-quality razors right to your door. Yeah, a dollar! Are the blades any good? No, our blades are f------ great."
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Dubin reportedly received a $90 million payout when the razor subscription service was sold to Unilever. Current CEO Larry Bodner is attempting to restore the brand’s image and tap into the Gen Z market.
The company launched a new ad campaign for a redesigned razor and collaborated with Walmart to launch new college-themed handles. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the company’s new headquarters in Durham, N.C., Bodner told gathered employees that they were working on "bringing the brand back."
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Dollar Shave Club is not the only brand trying to recapture its essence. Cracker Barrel came under fire from longtime fans after it attempted to change its logo and remove the iconic "Old Timer" image of a man leaning over a barrel. The restaurant chain faced fierce backlash and ultimately reversed course, dropping the proposed new logo — a simplified image of the restaurant’s name over a yellow barrel shape.
Cracker Barrel also abandoned its planned redesign of its restaurant interiors. The new designs got rid of the southern American kitschiness for a sleeker, modernized aesthetic.
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Bodner said he would continue to market Dollar Shave Club products direct-to-consumer while also branching out into retail stores. Unilever, reportedly anxious about cannibalizing its existing products, was allegedly slow to bring Dollar Shave Club into stores. Bodner believes that in the direct to consumer market, Dollar Shave Club has an advantage.
"One unnamed competitor, the largest one, is all about technology and telling you what you need and [the] latest gizmo. Another one is about the elite on each coast — and that’s not really us," he said.
