Dollar Shave Club: The $4,500 Video That Shaved a Billion.

A Brand Voice Sharp Enough

To Cut Through a $3B Category

March 6, 2012. A one-day shoot, a $4,500 budget, and Michael Dubin walking through a warehouse cracking deadpan jokes. “Our Blades Are F***ing Great” wasn’t slick. It was ridiculous, scrappy, and unforgettable.

48 Hours, 12,000 Orders

The spot hit YouTube, the site crashed, and 12,000 people signed up in two days. This wasn’t an ad campaign. It was a brand identity masquerading as comedy, and customers bought into the attitude as much as the blades.

From Viral to Venture

Investors jumped. A $1M seed round landed the same month, $9.8M Series A by October, $12M in 2013, and $75M in 2015.

The cash wasn’t just for razors. It fueled an identity play, irreverent copy, cheeky packaging, even butt wipes. Every touchpoint doubled down on “not Gillette.”

The $1B Exit

Unilever dropped $1B in July 2016. Not for supply chains or patents, Gillette had those. They bought culture.

Dollar Shave Club wasn’t a subscription business; it was a billion-dollar punchline with millions of subscribers and a brand that made legacy players look ancient.

The Omnichannel Turn

The post-acquisition era took DSC into retail shelves at Target and Walmart. The voice stayed snarky, the tone stayed human. The brand that started in a warehouse ad now lived both online and IRL, still selling irreverence as much as razors.

What’s Next

In October 2023, Unilever sold a majority stake to Nexus Capital, keeping 35%. Dollar Shave Club is no longer the upstart, but it’s proof that brand identity can be sharper than any blade.

Bottom Line

For Dollar Shave Club, $4,500 bought more than attention, it bought a strategy that cashed out at a billion.

We do miss our DSC kits though.