L’Oréal-owned Thayers launched in 1847, but until last week, it had never tapped a celebrity ambassador. That changed when the brand introduced DJ Pauly D (5 million Instagram followers) of “Jersey Shore” fame as the star of its new “Gym. Tone. Laundry.” campaign running across Instagram and TikTok. The DJ’s “Gym. Tan. Laundry.” catchphrase is well-known.
The campaign is tied to the brand’s expansion of its acne offerings. Its Blemish Clearing Toner has long been a bestseller for the brand, and it recently introduced an acne serum and a spot treatment. As noted by Stacey Goldstein, the brand’s vp of marketing, acne care is the fastest-growing segment of the skin-care market.
Thayers has a 50-50 male-female customer demographic. It currently targets Gen-Z consumers in its marketing, but it also has a large millennial user base, Goldstein said.
In choosing Pauly as an ambassador, Thayers wanted an “unexpected” way to bring its new acne launch to life, Goldstein said. Through its PR agency, the team learned that Pauly was a fan of witch hazel, its longtime hero ingredient. “We reached out and shared the products, he loved them, and everything organically snowballed from there,” she said. He was active in coming up with the campaign concept, too, she noted.
Though Pauly has a millennial fan base — the “Jersey Shore” show ran on MTV from 2009-2012 — “through his work as a renowned DJ, he has ushered a Gen Z following, as well,” Goldstein said. That was clear in his social media metrics, including engagement, she said.
The campaign launched with a series of four social posts, all 30-second videos, posted to both Pauly’s and the brand’s social accounts. The videos riff on the pun on GTL, noting that one should tone not only their muscles, but also their skin. Some show Pauly with a “mini Pauly,” who aspires to have muscles, hair — and skin — like his elder.
The campaign has been a hit so far. Since going live on May 1, it has amassed over 1 million views on Instagram and nearly 2 million views on TikTok. Comments include sentiments like, “This is madd believable because Pauly D skin has always been so nice.” And, “COME ON MEN SELF-CARE 👏👏👏 gym toner laundryyyy.”
Goldstein said the brand may continue to work with Pauly D beyond the campaign. In the meantime, it will continue posting content from this initial partnership. “There are more pieces of content we’ll be rolling out in the next two weeks: small bloopers, one-liners, behind-the-scenes and shorter, snackable pieces of content to keep up the engagement,” she said.
On May 16, Thayers will begin to engage influencers to play on the content it has already put out. At press time, the brand could not yet confirm partners as contracts were still in the works, but Goldstein said creators outside the beauty space were being considered, including “Jersey Shore stans and reality TV lovers.”
