December 30, 2025
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Should Dollar Shave Club Be Using AI in Advertising?
While several brands have faced backlash for using artificial intelligence (AI) in commercials, Dollar Shave Club is scoring some points for coming out with a new campaign that both uses and lampoons the controversial tech.
In the playful 60-second spot “We Put Our Money Where It Matters,” a CEO at a fictitious rival “Razor Corp” tells his team in a conference room setting that Dollar Shave Club has introduced its “best razor ever at a ridiculously low price” and urges them to find cost cutting actions. The options start with outsourcing manufacturing but then veer into zany measures such as replacing the shark in the office’s fish tank, getting rid of an in-office elevator DJ, ending “animal testing,” and using crayons instead of blades — all amplified via AI.
The commercial ends with the CEO concluding, “Why don’t we just replace everybody with AI?,” followed by the silence of others in the conference room.
The tongue-and-cheek spot harkens back to Dollar Shave Club’s early days, when it was known for irreverent ads that helped drive its stupendous early growth — and later, the $1 billion purchase by Unilever in 2016, only five years after it was founded.
Growth has slowed since the acquisition, with Dollar Shave Club’s current CEO Larry Bodner blaming Unilever for abandoning the personality of the shaving brand. Bodner took over as CEO in 2023 after Unilever sold 65% of Dollar Shave Club’s assets to private-equity firm Nexus Capital Management.
“[Unilever] neutered the voice of the brand,” Bodner recently told Fortune. “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.”
Does Dollar Shave Club’s AI-Based Ad Resonate or Not?
Dollar Shave Club still may have stepped too far in using AI in a commercial amid rising complaints over “AI slop,” a term coined to describe low-effort, low-quality AI-generated content that’s seen flooding YouTube and other parts of the internet. McDonald’s and Coca-Cola received heavy pushback for using AI for holiday ads — criticism that’s raised questions about creativity and job replacement.
Bodner told Advertising Age that the campaign was made to not only poke fun at the men’s grooming industry, but AI anxiety too. He said, “There’s so much negativity and concern about AI, like it’s this evil sister in the closet we don’t open it late at night but it’s part of our lives and we just have to deal with it.”
In response to the AdAge article, some respondents on LinkedIn agreed it was clever to use AI as a punchline. One response read, “There we go. Use it like this.” However, several questioned the quality and overall storyline of the execution. Another said, “You would think they learned from Coca Cola and McDonalds [sic], but I guess some brands will never understand unless they make their own mistakes.”
BrainTrust
Gene Detroyer
Professor, International Business, Guizhou University of Finance & Economics and University of Sanya, China.
Scott Benedict
Founder & CEO, Benedict Enterprises LLC
Bob Amster
Principal, Retail Technology Group
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Does the use of AI work effectively in Dollar Shave Club’s ‘We Put Our Money Where It Matters’ campaign?
Do you see a strong backlash arriving against ‘AI slop’ or will consumers embrace the creative advances of AI in advertising?
Poll
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Dollar Shave Club has always used humor with a touch of controversy in its ads. I see no issue with the current campaign – in fact, it is very on brand.
Yes — Dollar Shave Club’s use of AI in the “We Put Our Money Where It Matters” spot works effectively precisely because it leans into irreverent humor and timely cultural commentary rather than AI for AI’s sake. The 60-second ad uses generative tools to dream up absurd visuals — like razor-shaped skyscrapers and a fictional rival exec pitching AI as a cure-all — while making the technology itself the punchline. That self-aware satire not only nods to broader cultural “AI anxiety,” it reinforces Dollar Shave Club’s long-standing challenger-brand DNA at a moment when consumers are savvy and advertising fatigue is high.
In a marketplace inundated with what critics have dubbed “AI slop” — low-effort, generic AI output that feels soulless or formulaic — this campaign sidesteps backlash by making the joke about AI overuse rather than leaning on it as the only creative engine. Instead of simply churning out synthetic content, the brand uses AI as a tool of satire, giving the work a timely, tongue-in-cheek voice that fits its personality and cuts through the noise.
I don’t expect a massive backlash against all AI-driven creative — consumers will probably embrace well-executed, entertaining ads — but there is an appetite for quality and authenticity as marketers flood channels with generative content. In this crowded field, campaigns that lean into humor, cultural relevance, and brand personality — especially those that poke fun at AI itself — are more likely to resonate than generic “AI slop.” The humor and timeliness of Dollar Shave Club’s spot make it memorable in a way that feels both current and true to the brand’s roots.
I don’t see the problem (nor the AI) here. It’s a tongue-in-cheek advertisement with clean humor. We will have plenty of opportunity to bash companies and individuals for inappropriate use of AI but this ain’t it.
Dollar Shave Club’s “We Put Our Money Where It Matters” ad is funny. What’s the problem?
I don’t see this as having much to do with AI – it’s but a single joke among many – but rather belittling management cliches: shouldn’t our real concern be that many companies actually do respond to competitive threats with little more than a bunch of cost cutting measures ?
AI is often sold as a way to do more, but in the real world, especially in retail, the conversation is usually about doing more with less. I have worked in environments where IT was viewed strictly as a cost center, and every dollar had to be defended, even when the long term customer value was clear. That is why the message here resonates. Be smart about where you spend and do not adopt AI just because it is trendy. When used with purpose, like creating genuinely personalized and relevant advertising, AI can drive real growth. When it is used without a clear return, it just becomes another line item, and customers quickly feel the difference.
Backlash? Really? In this case, AI is better than a good choice. If they used animation several decades ago, would we even be talking about this?
No kidding!
This is, as usual, a funny Dollar Shave Club commercial. It’s expected. And transparency is not necessary. It’s obvious that AI and video editing are being used to their full potential – at least for this commercial. It’s not meant to fool anyone, which is when a lot of companies get into trouble. It’s not replacing jobs – although I guess a human in a gorilla suit could have been offended by the AI-generated shaving gorilla. (Meant to be funny – like the commercial!)
The campaign works because AI is not thinking. It is used as part of the joke, not as a shortcut for creativity. That approach feels consistent with Dollar Shave Club’s original voice, which was built on perspective and self-awareness.
Consumer backlash tends to focus on ads that feel lazy or purely cost-driven. When AI is guided by a clear idea and strong creative intent, it is easier to accept. When it replaces ideas or people, audiences recognize it immediately.
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Dollar Shave Club has always used humor with a touch of controversy in its ads. I see no issue with the current campaign – in fact, it is very on brand.
Yes — Dollar Shave Club’s use of AI in the “We Put Our Money Where It Matters” spot works effectively precisely because it leans into irreverent humor and timely cultural commentary rather than AI for AI’s sake. The 60-second ad uses generative tools to dream up absurd visuals — like razor-shaped skyscrapers and a fictional rival exec pitching AI as a cure-all — while making the technology itself the punchline. That self-aware satire not only nods to broader cultural “AI anxiety,” it reinforces Dollar Shave Club’s long-standing challenger-brand DNA at a moment when consumers are savvy and advertising fatigue is high.
In a marketplace inundated with what critics have dubbed “AI slop” — low-effort, generic AI output that feels soulless or formulaic — this campaign sidesteps backlash by making the joke about AI overuse rather than leaning on it as the only creative engine. Instead of simply churning out synthetic content, the brand uses AI as a tool of satire, giving the work a timely, tongue-in-cheek voice that fits its personality and cuts through the noise.
I don’t expect a massive backlash against all AI-driven creative — consumers will probably embrace well-executed, entertaining ads — but there is an appetite for quality and authenticity as marketers flood channels with generative content. In this crowded field, campaigns that lean into humor, cultural relevance, and brand personality — especially those that poke fun at AI itself — are more likely to resonate than generic “AI slop.” The humor and timeliness of Dollar Shave Club’s spot make it memorable in a way that feels both current and true to the brand’s roots.
I don’t see the problem (nor the AI) here. It’s a tongue-in-cheek advertisement with clean humor. We will have plenty of opportunity to bash companies and individuals for inappropriate use of AI but this ain’t it.
Dollar Shave Club’s “We Put Our Money Where It Matters” ad is funny. What’s the problem?
I don’t see this as having much to do with AI – it’s but a single joke among many – but rather belittling management cliches: shouldn’t our real concern be that many companies actually do respond to competitive threats with little more than a bunch of cost cutting measures ?
AI is often sold as a way to do more, but in the real world, especially in retail, the conversation is usually about doing more with less. I have worked in environments where IT was viewed strictly as a cost center, and every dollar had to be defended, even when the long term customer value was clear. That is why the message here resonates. Be smart about where you spend and do not adopt AI just because it is trendy. When used with purpose, like creating genuinely personalized and relevant advertising, AI can drive real growth. When it is used without a clear return, it just becomes another line item, and customers quickly feel the difference.
Backlash? Really? In this case, AI is better than a good choice. If they used animation several decades ago, would we even be talking about this?
No kidding!
This is, as usual, a funny Dollar Shave Club commercial. It’s expected. And transparency is not necessary. It’s obvious that AI and video editing are being used to their full potential – at least for this commercial. It’s not meant to fool anyone, which is when a lot of companies get into trouble. It’s not replacing jobs – although I guess a human in a gorilla suit could have been offended by the AI-generated shaving gorilla. (Meant to be funny – like the commercial!)
The campaign works because AI is not thinking. It is used as part of the joke, not as a shortcut for creativity. That approach feels consistent with Dollar Shave Club’s original voice, which was built on perspective and self-awareness.
Consumer backlash tends to focus on ads that feel lazy or purely cost-driven. When AI is guided by a clear idea and strong creative intent, it is easier to accept. When it replaces ideas or people, audiences recognize it immediately.