Ever since Sydney Sweeney broke into the mainstream through shows like Euphoria, she and her body have been a hot topic of conversation online, and she’s not afraid to lean into the discourse at all. Take SNL as an example, when she hosted last season, she joked about how “weirdly” a lot of her fans “are men” in an ad. Now, she’s using the notion that men see her as a sex symbol, her sense of humor and her remarkable looks again to advertise body wash from a bathtub, and it makes perfect sense.
Putting on her sexiest voice, Sydney Sweeney advertised Dr. Squatch Natural Body Wash while sitting in a bathtub topless. Notably, the ad focuses on her saying that for viewers to stop being “dirty little boys” they need to use this body wash, and it’s honestly hilarious, take a look:
Between Sweeney explaining what “dirty little boys” need to do to be considered men, the retro graphics moving across the screen and the perfectly timed background noises, like a catcall, this ad is a fun spoof on these kinds of commercials and a pointed commentary on how some people view the actress. She’s never been afraid of nudity or sexual scenes in her work, however, she’s still received mean and sexist comments about it. On top of that, she’s seen as a sex symbol by some, and all around this ad cleverly plays into that.
A lot of her followers agreed that this was a smart ad too as they commented things like:
- They definitely know what they’re doing by hiring her -ryanontheroads
- This might be the greatest marketing team I have ever seen -zakizali_02
- Whoever was responsible for this marketing pitch should just be promoted to CEO -davidvictor_music
- This is smart marketing, TBH -billings.matuna
- She knows, she knows and i know she knowssss -seikho__
- this is such smart marketing -elas0fia
Clearly, this ad and her other promo for Dr. Squatch (which you can see below) are all done in good fun. The brand’s entire Instagram leans into meme culture and hot topics on the internet. Plus, as Sweeney proved when she was on SNL, she understands how a certain group of people see her and she’s not afraid to address it. So, to me, this partnership (and the videos) make a lot of sense, and I find them hilarious.
In the past, Sweeney has said that she would worry “that showing off my assets” (meaning her breasts) would make people see her in “a certain way.” However, she followed that up by saying she’s found a lot of confidence in her body through her work, and she wants to empower people to love their bodies. On top of that, while chatting about her style, she explained that she won’t “let other people dictate how I feel or what I should be doing.”
Along with being incredibly self-aware, Sweeney is also a clever marketer. During press for the surprise box office hit Anyone But You, the actress and her co-star Glen Powell kind of leaned into rumors about them allegedly having an affair. The Twisters actor elaborated on why they did it too, noting at the time:
The two things that you have to sell a rom-com are fun and chemistry. Sydney and I have a ton of fun together, and we have a ton of effortless chemistry. That’s people wanting what’s on the screen off the screen, and sometimes you just have to lean into it a bit — and it worked wonderfully. Sydney is very smart.
In that case, Sweeney and Powell took what could have been terrible press, and turned it into something that helped the movie succeed.
This new ad does a similar thing. While men’s opinions about Sweeney could be the cause of negativity, she’s flipping the script and using those comments to create funny and effective advertising.
As we learn more about Sydney Sweeney’s partnerships with brands like Dr. Squatch Natural Body Wash, we’ll be sure to keep you posted. We’ll also make sure you are updated on her other projects, as her film Eden will likely have a theatrical release on the 2024 movie schedule following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and talks about Euphoria Season 3 finally happening really start to amp up.
