Sydney Sweeney, the star of Euphoria and The White Lotus, recently launched a product that has raised more eyebrows than bubbles: a soap called Bathwater Bliss, created in collaboration with Dr. Squatch. The campaign claims the soap is made with ingredients like pine bark, volcanic sand, moss, and the earthy scents of the Pacific Northwest — all very masculine, very natural, and marketed as “made by and for men.”
The Problematic Soap for Men: Sydney Sweeney’s Controversial New Launch
But what’s really fueling the conversation isn’t the soap itself, but the campaign, where Sydney Sweeney plays a bath-time nymph, semi-nude, talking directly to men with flirtatious, ironic jokes while she plays with bubbles. It’s something more akin to an AI-generated fanfic or a 2013 Axe commercial than a real 2025 ad.
While some celebrate the campaign as “fun” or “sexy without taking itself seriously,” others quickly point out the obvious: once again, Sydney Sweeney’s sexualized image is the hook — not to sell a TV show or a movie, but to sell soap. Soap, which, on its own, isn’t problematic. So, why does it feel that way?
Why Does the Sexualized Female Image Still Sell?
Because everything about this campaign is designed to appeal to the same old target: heterosexual men who are still more likely to buy something if a half-naked woman is involved. The classic “sell the product, but throw in a woman in lingerie to make sure it gets noticed” tactic. And this raises uncomfortable questions:
Why are we still using male desire as a marketing tool for everything — even soap? Why does a men’s product need validation from a sexy woman? And where does Sydney Sweeney stand in all of this? Is she in control, or has she just learned to play the game well?
Sydney Sweeney is selling soap made with drops of her actual bathwater in a collab with Dr. Squatch. pic.twitter.com/vUe6if4YBt
— ً (@sydneyfilesx) May 29, 2025
The Problematic Messaging Behind Bathwater Bliss
The truly disturbing part of this campaign is not that a woman is promoting a product for men, but that male self-care is still tethered to outdated stereotypes — as if men can only consume something if it’s wrapped in a sexual fantasy. Bathwater Bliss is not just selling soap. It’s selling Sydney Sweeney as part of the packaging, an image the media has exploited to the point of exhaustion, now recycled to make something as mundane as personal hygiene feel attractive.
Read also: This Photo Might Show How Selena Gomez is In the Wrong Paths
The Soap for “Problematic Men”: A Nod to Incel Culture and Objectification
What makes this campaign even more unsettling is who it seems implicitly targetting: not just any man, but a very specific type. Men who exhibit problematic attitudes towards women, viewing them as objects, and feel validated only through sexualized fantasies. In that sense, the campaign doesn’t just sell soap, it sells a very specific image of the “ideal man” trapped in a mindset that recalls incel culture — the subculture that champions resentment, isolation, and the objectification of women as a response to their own emotional and sexual frustrations.
Read also: Shocking Photos of Kid Cudi’s Firebombed Porsche Revealed in Diddy’s Ongoing Trial
Bathwater Bliss becomes a symbol of marketing that reinforces: the woman as a prize, female sexuality for male consumption, and an idea of masculinity that focuses not on genuine self-care but on feeding a fantasy that supports toxic dynamics. Beyond humor or nostalgia, the campaign speaks directly to those who still believe sexual desire justifies objectification.
More Than a Soap: Questioning the Underlying Message
Thus, the soap reflects how the industry continues to bet on a masculinity that needs to be validated through hypersexualized female images, even as many voices demand representations that include respect and diversity. This isn’t just about selling a product; it’s about questioning who we’re selling to, how we’re selling it, and what messages we continue to normalize without realizing it.
There’s no revolution here. Just an old trick dressed up as something new. A proven formula that still uses women’s bodies as a bridge to the consumer, even in spaces where it’s unnecessary. And this raises important questions about how desire is constructed, who profits from it, and the role gender representation continues to play in something as basic as taking a bath.
This article was originally written in Spanish by Alan Cruz in Cultura Colectiva.
