Why Dollar Shave Club Ditched the Super Bowl Instead of Censoring Its Ad

Imagine building your creative ad campaign for the Super Bowl that you poured your hard-earned money, time, and energy into, only for it to get rejected by the network it would have aired on? That is what happened with Dollar Shave Club.

Dollar Shave Club was ready to return to the Super Bowl with a new ad, but there was a penalty flag thrown: NBC censors wouldn’t let them say “Bullshit” on the ad. Last week, the brand launched the “Bullshit Meter,” which is a device that calls out the “marketing sludge” and over-engineering that plagues the grooming industry

The spot features a literal meter that sifts through life’s nonsense going off on everything from “blades made from ancient samurai swords” to humorous conspiracies like fake moon landings and a partner’s sudden gluten allergy. But the meter goes eerily silent when it scans a DSC razor. 

When network censors axed the ad due to profanity, Dollar Shave Club decided that removing the word would undermine the campaign’s core promise to its audience, giving it to consumers straight and without the filter

According to Dollar Shave Club’s CEO Larry Bodner, there was no ad buy in place prior to the brand learning that the spot would not air, and preserving the integrity of the work was critical. Maintaining the integrity of the message was and remains the brand’s top priority, which is why the creative was shared with the network before any contracts were finalized. Because the ad buy had not yet been signed, the team was able to pivot quickly once it became clear that broadcast standards would require the content to be altered or censored.

“We chose to walk away from the Big Game rather than compromise the authenticity of the campaign, as altering or censoring the work would have defeated the entire purpose of calling out the bullshit in the industry,” said Bodner.

The goal of the campaign is to drive revenue and increase brand awareness. Dollar Shave Club was built on calling out industry BS and standing up for the consumer, and this work reinforces the idea that consumers don’t need to pay for over-engineered gimmicks to get a high-quality shave. 

“It’s about staying true to core brand promise: offering great razors at honest prices, and zero bullshit,” said Bodner.

While the spot did not air during the Big Game, Dollar Shave Club will continue to run it across owned and paid channels, including OTT, YouTube, Meta, and owned social. The brand has shifted its ad budget toward streaming and digital platforms, where it can reach its audience without broadcast constraints and ensure the work is seen as originally intended. 

This digital-first approach allows Dollar Shave Club to invest in high-impact, targeted placements where the message can remain fully authentic.

Dollar Shave Club was not the only brand to skip advertising on the big screen during the Super Bowl this year. DoorDash’s ad featuring 50 Cent aimed at the Gen Z audience and Skittles debuting their ad at someone’s house are examples of brands doing this since they know their audience were also scrolling on social media when the big game was on.

“We were founded as an online first, digitally-native company, so while the Big Game offers unique opportunities to reach people en masse with one of the largest viewerships, we are always thinking of new and different ways to break through the noise and reach consumers,” said Bodner. “Sometimes the biggest spend doesn’t generate the biggest impact.”