FEBRUARY 1, 2022
Why Skin Care Brand Lumin Is Mansplaining Its Premium Product Line
First national ads, aimed at men, come from indie agency Good Conduct
By T.L. Stanley
"Mansplaining for Men" takes an obnoxious concept and flips it on its ear, targeting men.
Good Conduct, Lumin
Mansplaining, by definition, is patronizing and obnoxious because it assumes the listener—usually a woman—knows far less about the subject at hand than the lecturer, who’s always a man.
But what if the annoying practice gets flipped on its ear? The person doing the talking is still a man who breaks down a simple notion from multiple angles and repeats how-to tips over and over. But he’s targeting an audience of…other men.
Technically, it still qualifies as mansplaining, minus the inherent condescension, according to the first national campaign from male-centered skin care brand Lumin. But the work has a tongue-in-cheek twist meant to soften the blow, using dry humor to nudge men to take better care of their faces.
Denver-based independent agency Good Conduct, which won Lumin’s brand strategy and creative business last summer, is behind the campaign, with its hero 90-second video and a series of 30s and 15s, along with social snippets and still images.
Men have faces, too
The brief from the startup outlined the issue: modern men prioritize their mental and physical well-being but ignore their faces, one of their most prominent features. What’s worse, they have some outdated notions about skin care, thinking it’s just for women.
With spots like “Mansplained in the Mirror” and “Your Girlfriend Gets It,” Good Conduct wants to introduce guys to the basics like cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing, even if they’ve heard of the regimen before.
“We’re explaining it to them in a way they can understand. Simple products and easy-to-grasp routines, over-explained, simplified and explained again—mansplained,” Rob Lewis, co-founder and creative director of Good Conduct, said in a statement. “We found that modern men—millennials and Gen Z—are willing to try something different than what they grew up watching their male role models do.”
Yet they still might need “that permission and push to get them to think about their faces differently,” Lewis said.
That comes in the form of a witty narrator and star of “Mansplained for Men,” who suggests that a regular skin care routine will “prevent Father Time from wreaking havoc on your face, makes you feel more confident and makes your skin feel smoother, clearer and healthier.” He also says that springing for a premium product is an investment that will actually pay off, “unlike that crypto NFT your cousin started.”
Interest in men’s skin care has been growing, according to a Global Industry Analysts Inc. study, racking up $12 billion in worldwide sales in 2020. The market is expected to reach $16.3 billion by 2026, per the researcher.
Against that backdrop, Lumin chose Good Conduct as its first consumer-focused creative agency in July ahead of its launch in Target and Walmart this quarter. The campaign will be shown on TV, connected TV, digital and social media.
“Lumin wanted to develop a campaign that makes guys ask, ‘Wait, why don’t men use skin care? This is stupid,’” Kevin O’Connell, Lumin’s general manager, said. “The goal of having guys ask this question is to help destigmatize and normalize skin care because, well, they have faces, too, don’t they?”