Every now and then a television commercial appears that brings a smile to the viewers face. And Unilever brand Dove tends to make us laugh more than many other brands. Their new commercial, created for the Brazil market is creating a bit of a stir .

It features a conversation between two men in an office, one of whom (Diego) appears to have beautiful shiny (really shiny!), curly, lively hair that bounces around like the hair in those cringeworthy women’s shampoo ads.

Diego happens to have his shampoo with him in the office and realises he has been using a woman’s shampoo. When he realises that’s why his hair is bouncing all over the place, hair guy rushes to the store and buys a man’s shampoo, goes straight home and jumps in the shower and washes his hair after which it becomes a ‘normal’ male cut.

The commercial closes with the tagline, “Women’s shampoo is not meant for you.”

It’s a fun ad but not without risk. It tells men that the brand (I’ve forgotten the name) is the right choice for masculine men who want masculine hair but it could alienate men with long hair who might feel it says they are not cool.

And it only works if it encourages men to switch from a competing brand. If it is just moving men from Unilevers range of women’s shampoo to men’s shampoo then it doesn’t really make a difference. And for those men like me who are married with kids, all they care about when they get in the shower is whether or not there is some shampoo left in the bottle!