These Hilarious Spots Brought Unexpected Honesty to the Men’s Grooming Category
For men, many cliché aspirational looks still exist. These include aesthetics like ‘rugged’, ‘man of mystery’, or the classic, ‘bad-boy’. People who fit these moulds within media – and even real life – are often held in high regard, which is exactly why the men’s grooming category has traditionally leaned into such tropes. Of course, suggesting to consumers that using a particular product will somehow singlehandedly change their whole appearance is, admittedly, silly, but nevertheless, it has proven to be a tried and trusted approach.
However, over-promising to this degree isn’t particularly sincere. It also isn’t an effective way to stand out from the rest of the crowd, which is why men’s personal care brand, Harry’s, and creative partners Zulu Alpha Kilo NY decided to change things up – leaning into the brand’s dry sense of humour by explaining what its products can and cannot do across three hilarious spots. For example, while its razors cannot transform the user into a whole new man – for that, you’d need forged documents and unlicensed plastic surgery, one spot suggests – they do have power to offer a smooth shave.
Collectively titled 'Man, That Feels Good’, the work, directed by Love Song’s Elliott Power, takes a similar approach across the board. Offering in-depth, unexpectedly elaborate and somehow whimsically logical guides on how one might become a ‘rugged man of mystery’ or a ‘bad-boy’ (in addition to the aforementioned ‘whole new man’), the expert craft, strong narrative writing and hilarious visual sequences come together beautifully, serving as the basis for a clever platform which stands out.
To learn more about how this all came together, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with Zulu Alpha Kilo NY chief creative officer Tim Gordon, creative director Vic Bath, and Robert Thompson, Harry’s’ head of creative, for a chat.
LBB> Creating a refreshed brand identity to reintroduce Harry’s is no small task. As such, what was the brief, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Robert> While Harry’s is smart, approachable, and confident, it needed a push toward a bolder sense of surprise. Historically, we’ve earned trust by being honest and good, so we knew we could afford to be a little more unexpected and weird, in a charming way.
Tim> Creatively, the thing we were most excited about was that as long as Harry’s has been around, it's had sincerity, confidence and honesty in its DNA. It also felt like now was the time for Harry’s to rekindle the things that really made it stand out when it entered the market 12 years ago. So that's where we started.
LBB> Tell us more about this – what made emphasising honesty the right strategic approach for this moment in time?
Tim> The men's grooming category, for as long as it's been around, has always over-promised. That was something we were really excited to push up against: that idea that our product equals outsized performance in some way or another. It worked for Harry's to talk about that when it started, with things like ‘Why are razors so expensive?', so for this relaunch of the whole portfolio, it just felt like it was time to call BS on the category (and, obviously, have a lot of fun doing so!).
That's the other thing to mention – Harry's has always had a wonderful sense of humour and a great dry wit. So, it wasn't just important that we call BS, but that we did it in a really smart and funny way, without being slapstick.
LBB> With that in mind, let’s talk more about Harry’s’ brand voice! How has it evolved over the years, with help from your creative partners?
Robert> A strong brand voice is less about repetition and more about recognition, and Harry’s’ is grounded in charm, wit, and honesty. If an idea breaks the brief but hits the gut, we take notes of that, because it usually means there’s something truer in it. If that happens, I’ll dig into why it feels right – what it’s unlocking – and then we’ll either evolve the brief to match the insight, or refine the work so the risk has a stronger spine. Some of the best work comes from casting a wide net.
In terms of collaboration, I treat the internal team like the brand stewards, and the external teams like co-conspirators. While we at Harry’s set the tone, push for rigour, and protect the spirit of the brand, I try to give agencies the freedom to surprise us… but with clear bumpers and context, so the ideas feel fresh and on brand. Is the work meant to push, unify, perform, or provoke? That clarity helps everything ladder up, even when the executions vary wildly.
I also work to protect that tone by setting clear principles that give teams room to flex, depending on the channel. A PDP isn’t a TikTok, and a brand film isn’t a meme. Some things should be built for conversion, and others for memory. The key is understanding the role of the moment; if you're in a performance channel, fine-tune for response. If you’re building the brand, commit to something with tone and stickiness. But the best stuff does both, and the trick is to help the writers understand the personality behind the voice, so they can improvise, and not just read sheet music.
LBB> Building on this, what was the creative iteration process like? How did these brand needs and principles give way to the idea of what Harry’s can’t do, and where did the ideas for the individual spots come from?
Vic> There's a lot of tropes that exist within this type of marketing. Look at any of the spots that our competitors are doing – it's pretty baked in there. By playing with what’s already there, bringing ridiculous language, and just taking it to the nth degree, we had our recipe for success. However, we knew for it to land, we had to commit to the bit and see just how far we could push this idea.
Tim> The real structure of the spots came from creative director Dan Cummings and Vic. Specifically, we were shooting the shit one time, talking about the brief, and realised that if you really think about it, it’s not a straightforward process to become a man of mystery or to be rugged. Like, what are the actual steps and the amount of life experience required to do these things? That was really the jumping off point.
From here, I think it's that singular commitment to the joke that really makes these spots sparkle – the idea that we would honestly tell you what it would take to be a rugged man of mystery in such a scientifically broken-down, humorous and cinematic way. There's a real sense of joy in that.
LBB> What was the writing process like? How did you come up with absurdly funny but also logical paths to these specific life destinations?
Tim> Well, we just locked Dan in a room for a while and made him type things!
In seriousness, he deserves a tonne of credit. To speak on his behalf, we really just thought about all the things that get over-promised, came up with these scenarios, and faithfully wrote out what we imagined would be required to make them happen. In some cases, we wanted to make them really snappy – like committing a poorly-planned art heist – and in other cases, we seized the opportunity to lay out every ingredient that would be required. That was obviously fine tuned with our incredible director Elliot Power, the production company (Love Song), and the whole production department, but, again, it was that real commitment to the bit that made these scenarios stand out.
LBB> Speaking of Elliott Power, what made him the right person for the job, and what was the collaboration like?
Vic> Elliott’s approach to filmmaking and storytelling was so different and cinematic – it’s like nothing we've ever seen this particular market of men's grooming do before. It's such a ‘zig when everyone's zagging’ kind of approach, and we knew it would be super refreshing to bring in this type of storytelling.
When we talked to him, we immediately recognised his eagerness to commit to the bit alongside us, which we really appreciated. We knew he'd be somebody to full-send with, make this feel like a gritty ‘70s or '80s or crime film, and just heighten the comedy of the rest of it.
Tim> Elliott's a real one, and I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. He is incredibly genuine, wonderfully talented and collaborative, and I think he is an absolutely phenomenal filmmaker. So, we were super happy to work with him. Throughout the process, he, Love Song, and the whole team were very collaborative and genuine with their approach – really rolling up their sleeves and bringing the vision to life while ensuring nothing was sacrificed. I can't say enough nice things about the lot of them.
I also think Elliott’s appointment says a lot about us and the way that we like to work with directors, which is to hopefully find the right person for the job and then make sure everyone's vision for the project is coming to life simultaneously. And I give credit to our clients at Harry’s for seeing his vision instantly. We've got supportive and trusting clients, great craftspeople, and it's important to ensure that everyone feels like their fingerprints are on the final product. I think that philosophy shows here.
LBB> What was the shoot like? Where did you film, how long did it take, and do you have any anecdotes from on set?
Tim> It was fast and furious in the best way, and it couldn't have been pulled off without our amazing local partners. We shot in Marseille, and there are just some of the most wonderful crews there who moved heaven and Earth to get locations, and who were just incredibly supportive of Elliott, the team, and us.
We were also really efficient with it, to be honest. We purposely didn't want to take up too much time, and went out of our way to ensure that every moment, we were capturing what we needed. There were a lot of cutdowns and different mediums this had to live in, so the days were long, but they were also great – the kind of collaborative and constructive work that doesn’t always happen, but when it does, you sort of smile to yourself because it's such a fun thing to do. Really, everyone was fantastic, from the clients, to our production partners... except one of the wolves who was very uncooperative.
LBB> You had me at wolves! What was working with them like, and overall, were there any sequences that were particularly demanding to get right?
Tim> To be clear, I wasn't allowed near the wolves. However, we took all the regular precautions and animal safety measures, and the wolves were great. I mean, the wolves were wolves. One wolf was very happy to play ball, and one wolf was less so and kept on walking off. Wolves are gonna wolves.
Really, we’re very proud of the fact that no CG or AI was used for this part. We just duplicated the wolves to ensure that we depicted a pack, but it was remarkably easy, given the fact we were working with live animals.
As for other stories, there wasn't anything too out of the ordinary besides there just being a real energy on set. Everyone worked really, really hard and sweat every little location. The art department was phenomenal. When we needed a rain truck, rain trucks arrived. When we needed to shoot in hard places, we were able to get the permit. There was some serendipity to it.
LBB> Overall, what challenges did you face during this project, and how did you overcome them?
Tim> The scripts certainly weren't easy to bring to life, but they were challenging in a good way; they ensured we were shooting the right things. In some instances, there were things we wanted to do, but when we realised how much time it was going to take, we'd question whether it was worth it, before collaborating to come up with a better, more efficient scene. That slotting together and refining process was a big part of pre-production.
The other challenge was getting the voice right, not just in the writing, but for the actual voice actor. There was this real fine line in all of our minds that it had to read like typical CPG for a bit, but then also have character, as if he's sort of going slightly off script. We really wanted to make viewers feel that this person was actually describing all these things from a point of view of lived experience, and that was a bit tricky.
Vic> Time is also a challenge in big productions. In this case however, it wasn't so much a physical challenge, as much as it was making sure we were paying off the passion that we put into it, and that all the little details were there. We needed to make sure it lived up to its potential and that we did it justice. For example, we used actual film stock to ensure a specific level of fidelity in the final version.
LBB> Although it’s early days, since launch, how have people responded?
Tim> People have responded really well – especially within the advertising community – but equally important is that it seems to have landed meaningfully with people outside of our business.
So, while it's early, we're terribly happy, and I have immense gratitude for the client, Elliott, Love Song, and everyone involved for helping us create something that feels inherently different and fresh. We felt a huge responsibility to deliver for Harry's – it's a phenomenal brand – and I think we've landed and delivered on that. So I'm just very happy with how it turned out.
LBB> Finally, do you have a favourite sequence from the work, or an element you’re most proud of?
Vic> It's the stuff that hasn't really been seen in a spot like this before and feels straight out of a crime drama – those scenes really stuck out to me as impressive.
Tim> In the main film, there're two scenes that come to mind. One is the part when our lead is running down the docks; there's just something about that which feels very Michael Mann or Brian De Palma. And then, there's the part where he turns around to face the wolves. I think that’s such a beautiful shot.
Meanwhile, ‘Bad-Boy’ is so short, but I just love that whole sequence. So many kudos to the art department and locations team, because it's better than we ever could have imagined on the page.
