Dive Brief:

• Edgewell's Schick Hydro Silk brand has launched a digital campaign that parodies dating reality shows like "Love Island," the company announced in a press release. A video spot features a woman who is the only contestant on "Feelin' Myself Island," whose main objective is to woo herself.
• Rather than try to attract an eligible bachelor, Jackie Cruz of "Orange is the New Black" takes self care to the next level by getting a smooth shave in order to win herself over. The video directs consumers to a landing page at FeelinMyselfIsland.com where people can apply to win a trip alone.
• The landing page features a quiz about self love with drop down responses, and also solicits personal stories. Applicants can upload a video for extra credit. At the end of the 10 question quiz, the brand collects name, email address, birthday and social media handles to enter the contest. The company will reveal the winner on Instagram.

Dive Insight:

As the self care market has reached $450 billion, according to IRi Worldwide, marketers are looking for ways to target young women with campaigns bucking gender stereotypes and expectations. Schick's campaign theme promoting self-love and female empowerment follows a trend that other beauty brands are latching onto, challenging traditional self-care product marketing centered around shaming women.

Similarly, direct-to-consumer beauty line Birchbox ran a brand effort called "You" the pushed the idea of taking time to apply beauty and grooming products as a form of self-care. The campaign included a video with real people in front of a mirror called "Love Letters to You" with a diverse and inclusive cast of women. Likewise, women's razor brand Billie introduced a summer campaign normalizing body hair at the beach, "Red, White and Do You," to celebrate natural femininity and empower women to practice self-care in their own way. Unilever's Dove Hair campaign had a similar idea during the Grammy's, promoting a different kind of hair self-care, with a power anthem featuring Kelly Rowland, which the brand pushed through a music video with a message encouraging girls to wear their hair however they like.

Another element of the Schick campaign is the parody aspect, which had been popular among marketers these days who are looking to poke fun at popular culture and social media stars. Adobe and KFC have both parodied influencers in campaigns to promote everything from the creative cloud to fried chicken. In this instance, the reality dating show parody uses the trend to promote a contest giveaway, one with a social media element that has become de rigeur for brand contests.

While the "Feelin' Myself" campaign focuses on female self-love and self-care, it comes as Schick and other DTC brands are also experimenting with bucking stereotypes about masculinity. Promoting healthy social roles, Schick Hydro last year ran "The Man I Am" campaign, which pushes healthy conversations for men around emotions and respect for women.