Suave Trades Breakup Baggage for Body Care in New Social-First Campaign Built for Gen Z
NEW YORK, March 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on nearly 90 years of making quality self care accessible, Suave is evolving its marketing playbook for a new generation. Today, the brand unveiled Smell Like Your Ex(foliating Body Wash) – its first fully social-first campaign – developed with global creative agency Born Social. The campaign supports the launch of its new Exfoliating Body Wash collection and signals a sharper focus on culture-led, entertainment-driven storytelling aimed at driving growth in the fast-growing body care category.
Breaking March 2 across U.S. social platforms, the campaign taps into a relatable Gen Z insight: the lingering clothes and scent of an ex. Set inside a fictional thrift store called The Ex-Change, the hero film follows customers trading in items left behind by former partners and upgrading to something better. The creative positions Suave's Exfoliating Body Wash as an empowered reset: an upgrade from smelling like your ex to smelling like you.
"This campaign marks an important moment for Suave to take a modern approach to connecting with Gen Z by hacking into their feeds through entertainment," said Tina Ghory, Senior Director, Consumer Engagement at Suave. "Smell Like Your Ex(foliating Body Wash) reflects how we're evolving as a brand and showing up differently, speaking the language of this audience and bringing our There's More To It positioning to life in a way that feels relevant, accessible and native to social."
Directed by Tessa Greenberg and featuring social-first comedic talent, the campaign was built for platform engagement from the start, with room for improvisation and native storytelling. Visually defined by bold color inspired by the four fragrances – Strawberry Delight, Citrus Blossom, Pistachio Cream and Vanilla Suede – the work includes a hero film and supporting social assets designed to spark conversation and sharing.
The campaign will run across U.S. social platforms, supported by merchandise drops and mailers. Media buying was handled by Stella Rising.
About Suave
Suave is a premiere brand in the newly-merged Evermark porfolio from Yellow Wood Partners. The Suave mission is to make trusted high-quality beauty and personal care products accessible to all.
For nearly 90 years, Suave has served consumers with exceptional products at a great value. Originally founded with a vision to democratize salon-quality care, the company has evolved to offer a comprehensive range of hair and body care products serving women, men and kids. Suave has been recognized as one of TIME's World's Best Brands and Newsweek's Most Trusted Brands. Suave products can be purchased at more than 60,000 retailers across the U.S., including Walmart, Dollar General, Target, CVS, Walgreens, Family Dollar, Kroger, and Amazon. For more information, please visit www.suave.com.
For more information, please contact:
Holly Thomas - [email protected]
SOURCE Suave Brands Co
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