Dollar Shave Club, launched in 2011 with a viral ad screaming "Our Blades Are F***ing Great," revolutionized grooming by mailing cheap, sharp razors , ballooning to $1 billion in sales before Unilever scooped it up in 2016. Their subscription kits, from the humble Humble Twin to the Executive six-blade beast, promise a no-nonsense shave with cheeky packaging that once felt like a middle finger to overpriced brands. It's the everyman's groomer, turning bathroom routines into a laugh without needing a mirror selfie.
But the club's gone full woke under Unilever's umbrella, lathering up with BLM donations, LGBTQ+ youth funding, and diversity campaigns that swapped humor for hashtags. From $100K to racial justice in 2020 to inclusive ads celebrating "all bodies," they've traded razor rebellion for corporate virtue. By 2025, even post-Unilever spin-off, the woke residue sticks like cheap foam, leaving traditionalists itching for a cleaner cut.
In 2020, Dollar Shave Club donated $100K to BLM causes, calling police brutality a "men's rights issue" since Black men face it disproportionately, while urging followers to fight systemic racism.
In 2018, Dollar Shave Club pledged £1 per new UK subscription to The Albert Kennedy Trust, the main charity for LGBTQ+ homeless youth, plus mentoring workshops for queer teens.
Dollar Shave Club's 2021 campaigns spotlighted diverse bodies and skin types, pushing "grooming for everyone" with inclusive models under Unilever's DEI umbrella. Do you really need a company virtue signaling that their razor can be used by anyone? We thought that was common sense.
In 2022, Dollar Shave Club mandated unconscious bias training for staff as part of Unilever's racial equity drive, including diverse supplier goals to "build better teams."