From Viral Ad To $8 Soap: How Sydney Sweeney Turned Fan Obsession Into A Marketing Goldmine

A limited-edition soap reportedly containing a small amount of Sydney Sweeney's bathwater will go on sale for $8 this week. The Emmy-nominated "Euphoria" star partnered with men's grooming brand Dr. Squatch to launch Sydney's Bathwater Bliss.

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From Meme to Money

The campaign originated from a Dr. Squatch advertisement featuring Sweeney in a bubble bath promoting the brand's natural body wash. Originally released in October, the video went viral and sparked a wave of social media memes and comments centered around the idea of her bathwater.

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“You kept asking about my bathwater after the @drsquatch ad… so we kept it,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday announcing the soap launch. The product's description markets it as blending the outdoors and Sweeney's bathtub, with ingredients like pine, Douglas fir, and a “touch” of her bathwater labeled as one of nature's finest aphrodisiacs.

Limited Supply, Maximum Hype

The brand announced a limited run of 5,000 units of Sydney's Bathwater Bliss, set to go on sale on June 6. To build hype ahead of the release, Dr. Squatch is distributing 100 bars through a pre-launch Instagram giveaway contest, according to People magazine

Targeting Gen Z men, a key demographic for Dr. Squatch, the brand has heavily invested in TikTok advertising, spending $3.6 million in the first eight months of 2021, according to Marketing Dive. This campaign continues that trend, leveraging social media buzz and limited availability to generate anticipation ahead of the product’s release.

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Polarized Reactions

The launch of Sydney's Bathwater Bliss sparked mixed reactions across the internet. Reddit users debated the ethics and hygiene of using real bathwater in a commercial product, with threads questioning the limits of celebrity branding and personal fluid use in skincare.

"Fans always joke about wanting my bath water… I was like, this is just such a cool way to have a conversation with the audience and give them what they want," Sweeney told GQ. She described the soap as having an outdoorsy scent of pine, earthy moss, and fir—also known as the brand's signature Morning Wood fragrance—mixed with some city bath water.

"There's no playbook for turning Sydney Sweeney's actual bath water into a bar of soap," Dr. Squatch Senior Vice President of Global Marketing John Ludeke said in a statement to The New York Times. "But that's exactly why we did it." He added that the goal was to spark conversations about men's personal care routines.

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Celebrity Shock Marketing Returns to Spotlight

The campaign draws on a history of provocative celebrity product stunts that captured public attention. Gwyneth Paltrow’s 2020 launch of the “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle, made headlines and sold out quickly. In 2019, internet personality Belle Delphine generated over $90,000 in profits after selling jars of her so-called "GamerGirlBathWater” at $30 a piece.

Sydney's Bathwater Bliss builds on past instances of bold celebrity branding—leveraging star power, limited supply, and unconventional marketing to spark viral interest and strong consumer demand. Dr. Squatch has not confirmed whether the soap will be continued. 

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Image: Shutterstock

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