This blog won’t change your life. But it will change your copy.

Sunscreen is traditionally all about reassurance. ‘Protects against UVA and UVB rays. Nourishes the skin. Hydrates for up to 48 hours.’ Everything is designed to make you feel safe in the sun. Australian brand Slather flips that logic completely.

Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Men, in particular, are notoriously bad at applying sunscreen. Slather builds on that insight and deliberately chooses a different tone. No soft messaging. No gentle visuals. Instead, a harder, more confronting approach.

Their baseline, ‘The Sun Is Not Your Friend’, reframes the sun as a threat rather than a pleasure. Their sunscreen becomes your defence. Their copy is direct, sometimes self-deprecating, and because of that, it resonates with the male Aussies they aim to reach.

This copy works because it stems from real audience insight. Australian men are known for neglecting sunscreen, yet brands rarely address them directly. By tailoring the entire brand – copy and design – to this overlooked audience, Slather’s atypical tone feels credible rather than forced.

In taboo categories, copy tends to hide behind euphemisms. Toilet hygiene? It’s all about ‘ultra-soft comfort’. Menstrual care? Words like ‘freshness’ and ‘protection’ mask the messy reality. The bar to stand out here isn’t that high. You just have to dare to break the taboo.

Bidet brand Tushy does exactly that. No beating around the bush. Their angle? We all know what this is about, so let’s just say it. From ‘The modern bidet for people who poop’ to ‘Wiping is a pain in the butt’: no euphemisms, just straight talk. By making the uncomfortable explicit – and doing it with humour – Tushy removes the awkwardness and opens up the conversation.

Clothing brand Hanes took a similar no-nonsense approach in a campaign for their period underwear. No sugar-coating, just clarity. ‘100% leak-proof’ becomes ‘Nope, you won’t feel wet’. ‘Maximum protection’ becomes ‘Yep, heavy flow too’. Hanes doesn’t offer polished solutions, but instead acknowledges the real, monthly struggles many women face. That’s exactly what makes the communication feel more human.

Breaking a taboo doesn’t have to be shocking. Copy doesn’t always need to provoke or confront head-on. Sometimes, it’s enough to reflect how people actually think and speak, rather than how marketing assumes they do.

Humour is an easy way to get noticed. Plenty of brands dabble in jokes or wordplay (with mixed results, but more on that later), but few use it as a strategic tool to reinforce their identity.

Who Gives A Crap does. The brand sells toilet paper but anchors it in a bigger mission: improving access to clean water and sanitation worldwide, while offering an alternative to deforestation through bamboo and recycled materials.

Their copy is packed with wordplay like ‘The planet needs us, no ifs or ands. All butts.’ It’s clever, but more importantly, it makes their message accessible and draws attention to a socially relevant issue.

The brand’s tone of voice runs through everything: from packaging to campaigns to their website. That consistency ensures the humour never feels gratuitous, but always part of a coherent brand story. The brand sounds light-hearted but stands on solid ground. That’s why the copy works.

Who Gives A Crap uses humour while maintaining a clear link to its product and mission. But some brands go even further. They fully embrace humour – no matter how absurd – and it still works.

Oatly is a prime example. The oat milk brand breaks pretty much every advertising rule. Their ads talk directly to passers-by. They mock advertising itself. Even legal battles with the dairy industry become something to laugh about (at least in their communication).

That tone – informal, absurd and anti-corporate – isn’t a campaign choice. It’s who they are. They position themselves as a challenger to the traditional dairy industry and carry that through in every detail of their communication. Because edgy copy is part of their core brand logic, it never feels like a gimmick. And that makes all the difference.

Edgy copy only works when it’s thoughtful. It needs to know what it’s doing and why. Otherwise, it may grab attention, but rarely in the intended way. There are plenty of cautionary tales.

On International Women’s Day in 2021, Burger King UK tweeted ‘Women belong in the kitchen’. Only in subsequent posts did it become clear they were promoting a scholarship programme for their female culinary staff. But by then, it was too late. The first message had already gone viral – detached from its context – and was widely seen as sexist.

In 2025, American Eagle faced backlash over the slogan ‘Sydney Sweeney has great jeans’, a play on ‘jeans’ and ‘genes’. What was meant as clever wordplay was interpreted by many as a reference to genetic superiority, especially given the choice of a blonde, white celebrity. The result? The campaign was labelled racist and inappropriate.

In both cases, the copy aimed to stand out but wasn’t sufficiently rooted in brand identity and failed to consider context and societal sensitivity. As a result, it missed the mark.

Standing out with copy is easy. Standing out in a way that actually makes sense: that’s what sets strong brands apart. And that’s where we come in. For Doctors of the World, we created an ad with real punch for De Standaard’s Solidarity Award. By placing abortion among typically Belgian export products, we captured attention without resorting to shock tactics. In doing so, we guided readers towards the real message: the debate around the 12-week limit.

We don’t pull this kind of copy out of thin air. We dig deep into a brand’s mission and vision. We analyse audiences and context. We refine tone and style. All to create copy with a distinct voice. One that resonates across every touchpoint. How edgy that voice should be? That’s something we’re happy to define together.