Fairly frequently, Hertz has Tom Brady pretending to charge himself as if he’s an EV. For a Super Bowl commercial, Amazon hired Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost to imagine what it would be like if Alexa could read their minds. And a few years ago, Under Armour got Dwayne Johnson to do dips with a large chain over his shoulders, while his narration of his origin story played in the background.
As you might expect, SoapStandle — the one-man, Memphis-based business that produces a handle and holder for soap bars — has yet to score the endorsement of an A-list celebrity.
But recently, it did receive a stamp of approval from a leading soapologist: Dr. Goobegone, chief scientist of the Society of the Identification, Subjugation, and Eradication of Goo (TSISEG). In several videos, he’s excitedly talked about the benefits of SoapStandle from his lab, and shown the problems that can arise in the bathroom if you don’t purchase its product.
There is, however, a key detail about Dr. Goobegone that should be noted.
He’s not human.
Rather, he’s a puppet, the creation of Kevin Carlson, one of Hollywood’s go-to puppeteers.
'A great guy to have involved'
The videos are the latest tool for SoapStandle, which was founded by Memphian Jimmy Gould. He invented its flagship product — also called the SoapStandle — after regularly dropping slippery soap bars in the shower; and since then, his startup has continued to gain momentum.
The SoapStandle product serves as a handle and holder for soap bars, eliminating the gooey, sludge-like mess typical of bar soap. The offering is sold on Amazon, where its sales numbers have increased over time. It’s found in boutique stores, and is buoyed by a deal with the subscription soap service Dr. Squatch, which has purchased hundreds of thousands of SoapStandles and rebranded them as the “Squatch Gripper.” This year, the company is poised to sell its millionth product.
Gould’s recent collaboration with Carlson stems from a friendship that goes back years. Gould is married to Katie Smythe, the CEO and artistic director of local nonprofit New Ballet Ensemble; and for a long time, she had danced with Carlson’s wife, Susan. When he and Gould met, they immediately hit it off, and the couples have stayed in touch. Each year, Kevin and Susan come help New Ballet Ensemble with its production of NutRemix.
Carlson thought the SoapStandle product was nifty, and he admired Gould’s perseverance. When he said he could make promotional videos for the business, Gould knew it was an opportunity too good to pass up — because of Carlson's track record.
When you’re making a movie or TV show and need a puppeteer, he’s one of the guys you call. In the mid-'90s, he co-created and performed in the direct-to-video series Timmy the Tooth, which was found in every Blockbuster in the country and a promotional tie-in with Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. In the late-'90s, he played the titular character on the Fox Kids series, The Mr. Potato Head Show. He’s performed in an array of Muppets projects, and has worked as a puppeteer on The Office, Dr. Dolittle, Men in Black II, Team America: World Police, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, to name just a few.
“Kevin is incredibly creative and funny,” Gould said. “He’s a great guy to have involved, and I have a lot of confidence in him.”
'We've got to make people laugh'
In February, Carlson and his partner, James Murray, began working on the videos, and took a few months to complete them. They drew inspiration from an ad Gould had shot on his iPhone, where he portrayed a scientist talking about SoapStandle, thus creating Dr. Goobegone.
In one of the videos, Dr. Goobegone talks about “a growing dilemma found in households around the world," soap goo, and then offers the SoapStandle as the solution. In the other video, he shows one of the perils that can come with soap goo — the creation of a gelatinous gunk, a rude, obnoxious character with a high-pitched voice.
The videos are silly, but that’s intended.
“We’ve got to make people laugh,” Carlson said. “We could do a straight commercial kind of thing, and talk about virtues of the product, but why not have a little fun with it?”
It’s a question that Gould is glad was asked. He’s a big fan of the videos, and currently exploring how to use them most effectively.
“The way that Dr. Goobegone talks, and the lifelikeness of the Goo monster, it’s high-end stuff,” he said. “I’m glad that Kevin was interested enough to do it, and I really like what he did. I hope I find the right way for millions of people to see it."
