Dr. Squatch Opens the Gates to ‘Manlandia,’ a Utopia for Raw Masculinity

Dr. Squatch, the U.S. men’s personal care brand acquired by Unilever in June, says modern manhood has become too tame. Now it’s inviting customers into an unapologetically masculine utopia. 

The brand known for its viral social stunts has launched “Manlandia,” a fictional frontier stocked with bold scents and natural ingredients, where men can break out of the grind and be at one with their inner manliness. 

A tongue-in-cheek series of 30-second spots stars actor Alan Ritchson, who celebrates men doing unfiltered “man stuff,” such as loudly soloing on an electric guitar and ripping logs apart with their bare hands. It’s all set to a rallying chorus of “Yes, you man!”

In the U.S., the campaign will run across TV, digital, and social, with Ritchson guiding viewers through Manlandia’s wildest corners.

Ads in the U.K. and Australia will feature Liverpudlian UFC star Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett and Aussie rugby union legend Nick “The Honey Badger” Cummins, respectively. 

John Ludeke, senior vice president of global marketing at Dr. Squatch, said the “Manlandia” concept is the latest representation of a brand mission to help men “live healthier lives with products that make them feel and smell like a champion.”

The campaign is “deepens our emotional connection with consumers and creates a place where men can unapologetically be themselves, because manliness is natural, and naturalness is manly,” he said in a statement. 

Ritchson, star of Reacher, Smallville, and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, has become a designated Dr. Squatch “Yes Man-in-Chief.” He added that “Manlandia” is “about giving men permission to just be themselves. Too often life pulls us into routines that make us forget the grit and fun of being a man.”

Kyle Beiermeister directed “Manlandia” through production company Echobend Pictures. Small World developed the U.K. component.

Dr. Squatch’s latest campaign comes three months after it went viral for selling soap infused with actress Sydney Sweeney’s bathwater. One million fans entered the giveaway within five days.