Personal hygiene brand goodwipes has launched a new campaign in response to Wet Ones’ billboards seen across New York City.
Last week, Wet Ones (created with BBH USA) launched an optical illusion campaign across New York City featuring close-up photos of fingers, palms, and knuckles that looked like bare buttocks, paired with the tagline “Just for Hands. No ifs, ands or butts”. The campaign was motivated by a study showing that more than half of Americans use hand wipes on intimate areas.
And goodwipes was quick to respond, (working with Quan Media Group and its in-house team) by placing its own billboard directly next to Wet Ones’ ads in Times Square and deployed a mobile van across the city bearing the message: “We’re actually just for butts”.
After Wet Ones launched its “Just for Hands” campaign reminding consumers that its wipes are made for hands, goodwipes delivered a cheeky response, reminding New Yorkers exactly what goodwipes are made for: butts.
The challenger brand, which supplies flushable wipes designed for the bottom, put the message front and centre with OOH placements in Times Square, directly across from Wet Ones, alongside a mobile truck appearing next to Wet Ones’ placements across the city from October 6–9.
The campaign was turned around in less than 24 hours, with creative developed in-house at goodwipes and OOH handled by Quan Media Group. Where Wet Ones is “no ifs, ands, or butts,” goodwipes, as always, is all about the butts.
“With a setup this perfect, you have to have a little fun with it,” said Meredith Diehn, SVP marketing at goodwipes.
“I’m a big believer in leaving some dollars unallocated so you can move quickly when the right moment comes up. Otherwise, you’re stuck debating what to cut to make something culturally relevant happen. We saw this moment and knew we had to jump on it, in a way that felt distinctly goodwipes: playful, cheeky and with a little personality.”
“This is exactly what OOH is for: seeing something happening in culture and having the speed and creativity to jump into the conversation in a way people can’t miss,” said Brian Rappaport, founder & CEO at Quan Media Group.
And Wet Ones played along.
The brand has since updated its Times Square creative with a message directly addressing goodwipes: “Very Cheeky @goodwipes, we came for New York’s 🤲 you came for its 🍑. Together, we can clean up this city.”
The exchange has now moved to social, with the two brands collaborating on a joint post and turning what started as a cheeky bit of competitive OOH banter into a brand-to-brand moment.
