The hook. Thirty seconds of men doing exaggerated man things, stitched from the brand's most quoted YouTube moments, with the signature line front and center: you're not a dish, you're a man.
Why it works. Most direct to consumer brands hit the Super Bowl and immediately dress up like a real ad agency made their spot. Dr. Squatch did the opposite in February 2021. The brand compressed its proven long-form YouTube playbook into a broadcast slot without sanding off the weird. Same spokes-energy, same absurd masculinity jokes, same enemy in generic body wash. That consistency is the lesson. Viewers who had seen the viral videos got a callback. Viewers who had not were seeing the same pitch the brand would retarget them with online the next day. The funnel did not change, only the placement did. Critics called the humor juvenile, which is exactly the point: the ad was not written for critics, it was written for the customer who already laughs at this exact bit in their feed.
Steal this. When you level up to an expensive placement, do not abandon the creative that got you there. Cut your best performing hooks into the new format and keep the voice identical, so the big reach moment feeds the cheap channels that convert.
Ad by Dr. Squatch, aired during Super Bowl LV. Watch it on YouTube.