Dr. Squatch made natural men’s soap go viral.

Dr. Squatch is a lesson in marketing as a growth engine. It was founded in 2013 in San Diego by Jack Haldrup, who started it after a psoriasis diagnosis pushed him toward gentler products. Its core is natural, handmade cold-process bar soap for men — made without harsh detergents — wrapped in a rugged, outdoorsy identity built on the Sasquatch (Bigfoot) mascot, with the name a play on “Squatch.”

Its real superpower is viral marketing. Dr. Squatch became famous for irreverent, hugely shareable YouTube and social ad videos — routinely cited as a masterclass in direct-to-consumer video, in the Dollar Shave Club vein — and ran a Super Bowl ad in 2021. That content engine turned a natural-soap startup into a mass men’s-grooming brand. Its scents — Pine Tar (the gritty, woodsy flagship), Cool Fresh Aloe, Bay Rum and Cedar Citrus — extended into hair care, deodorant, cologne and toothpaste.

Dr. Squatch grew fast and changed hands: growth-equity firm Summit Partners took a majority stake in 2022, and in 2025 Unilever acquired the brand for a reported ~$1.5 billion. (Honest notes: it is a 2013 DTC startup, not a heritage soap house; “Dr. Squatch” is a brand persona, not an actual doctor or a medical product; Summit Partners’ stake was 2022, not 2021; and as of 2025 it is a Unilever brand, not independent — the same Unilever that owns Dollar Shave Club; and no official brand hex is published.)

Dr. Squatch lives in a forest-and-amber woodsy palette. Click a swatch to copy the hex.

Dr. Squatch’s identity is rugged, natural and woodsy — a forest green, a cedar brown, a pine amber, a mossy olive, and a soap cream. The palette reads like the outdoors and the product: pine, cedar, moss and the warm amber of a Pine Tar bar, natural and masculine. It signals handmade, outdoorsy authenticity rather than clinical or luxury polish. The honest caveat: with no published brand hex, these tones are an original, unofficial interpretation, not first-party values.

The lesson is a forest-and-amber palette signals rugged natural grooming. Dr. Squatch’s world reads as woodsy and authentic. For designers, it is a reminder that forest green, cedar brown and pine amber evoke the outdoors and natural ingredients, matching a brand of handmade soap with a Sasquatch mascot. The takeaways: use forest and earth tones with a warm amber for natural, rugged appeal; lean into the outdoors; and treat any single hex as unofficial when there is no published spec.

The wordmark spirit is a rugged slab — bold and outdoorsy.

Dr. Squatch’s identity carries a bold, outdoorsy, rugged spirit — a “Dr. Squatch” wordmark and Sasquatch mascot whose sturdy forms match a natural men’s-soap brand. A rugged slab captures the mood: it is bold and woodsy, the register of the outdoors and handmade goods rather than clinical skincare. Set against a forest-and-amber palette, the rugged slab feels natural and confident — exactly the Sasquatch, Pine-Tar personality the brand carries. It is bold rather than delicate, mirroring a gritty bar of soap. (Dr. Squatch’s real wordmark and mascot are trademarks we describe but do not reproduce, and the exact typeface is not something we assert.) Because the specific marks are not ours to use, the honest description is “a rugged slab spirit,” not the Dr. Squatch logo. The type behaves like the brand: bold, outdoorsy and rugged.

Dr. Squatch stands for natural, told well.

Dr. Squatch is a lesson in a good product amplified by great marketing. Natural bar soap for men is a simple idea; what set Dr. Squatch apart was telling it with irreverent, wildly shareable video and a memorable Sasquatch persona, turning a commodity into a cultural DTC phenomenon. That content-driven growth — a masterclass repeatedly studied alongside Dollar Shave Club — built a brand big enough for Summit Partners and then Unilever to buy. The soap is real; the marketing made it a movement.

For designers and brand-builders, Dr. Squatch offers a clear takeaway: marketing and persona can turn a commodity into a phenomenon. The lessons: pair a genuinely good, simple product with a bold, shareable content engine; build a memorable persona (the Sasquatch) that carries the humour; and keep the design outdoorsy and consistent. It is also a reminder to keep the facts honest: Dr. Squatch was founded in 2013 in San Diego by Jack Haldrup, grew on viral video, and is now a Unilever brand (Summit Partners took majority in 2022; Unilever acquired it in 2025) — with the palette here an unofficial interpretation. Dr. Squatch told a simple product brilliantly — proof that marketing can be the difference.

Keep Dr. Squatch’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.