Behind The Browns: How DUDE Wipes Helped Cleveland Reveal New Lids
Despite their orange and brown colors and lack of recent postseason appearances, the Cleveland Browns are anything but crappy. Thank DUDE Wipes for that.
Earlier this week, Cleveland’s social team dropped a helmet reveal teaser video that was cleaner than a bidet’d bottom. The now-viral video was coordinated with and sponsored by DUDE Wipes - a seemingly unlikely pairing that saw the DUDEs behind the popular bathroom hygiene company aid the Browns in wiping away the stink of a disappointing 2022 campaign.
DUDE Wipes co-founder, Ryan Meegan, flushed out the process behind the Browns' cleaned up new look with OutKick earlier this week.
Though the should-be award-winning video dropped Monday, Meegan says the idea behind the DUDES Wipes/Cleveland Browns partnership was actually conceived well in advance between the team and a sort-of middle man.
"They actually reached out to us," Meegan said of the Browns. "Eric Clouse (Chief Commercial Officer) reached out to our sports agency representation, Gallagher Sports - they're out of Cleveland as well. Tim Martin runs it and he does a great job. (Eric and Tim) got together, I think they had prior working relationships. So Eric reached to Tim and said 'Hey, I got something I want to throw by ya.'
"Eric pitched working together with DUDE Wipes. He said he'd been keeping an eye on DUDE Wipes, love what we do with marketing and often uses DUDE Wipes as an example to his marketing team."
Intrigued as they were, the literal dudes behind DUDE Wipes didn't realize just how interested Clouse and the Browns were in actually working together. As is often the case, they assumed the Browns were seeking sponsorship and/or trying to sell corporate tickets/luxury boxes, etc.
"To our surprise, Eric was like, 'We want to go all-in. We've got this really cool thing coming out next year.' So we've been talking for about a year."
Browns Didn't Share Too Many Details
Ryan Meegan said DUDE Wipes didn't know much about the entirety of the team's plans, but they were intrigued. "Eric said ' Next year we're doing this White Out series and I think it would be really fun to have you guys on board. We'll dive right in on the bathroom humor and all that good stuff.'"
That's all DUDE Wipes needed to hear.
"We were amazed that an NFL club was interested in working with us, said Meegan. "What could be a better pairing than DUDE Wipes and the Browns? For them, of all clubs, to want to work with us and reach out and be the ones pursuing us - it was quite humbling. We're really excited and we're going to have a blast."
Once DUDE Wipes was able to digest the Browns' White Out series vision, both sides began working on a plan. The visuals of that plan, however, were mostly one-sided.
"They kept (the helmets) under wraps pretty tightly. I didn't see (the helmet) until Monday night. We just took (the Browns') word that the uniforms were going to be mainly all white and same with the helmets," DUDE Wipes co-founder Ryan Meegan remembered. "I was kind of thinking they might look like Penn State's helmets or other Color Rush helmets and jerseys we've seen, but I didn't see them until Monday."
On Tuesday morning, the rest of the world saw Cleveland's new look for the first time, presented by DUDE Wipes.
DUDE Wipes Approves
The helmet and uniform reveal has been met with near-unanimous approval from fans across the NFL. And even though DUDE Wipes is more than equipped to wipe away and freshen up any mess, Meegan agrees that won't be necessary:
"I think they look sweet. Real sweet. I think they're sharp and they're going to pop on tv. I was super excited when I saw them."
And as for the teaser video itself, the Browns delivered that with all the ease and success of a Nick Chubb toss right.
"The Browns scripted it. Their team came up with the concept and thought it would be fun to use the equipment guy who's charismatic and did a really good job. They scripted it then sent it to us for feedback, which we gave. But overall, we were really happy with it," Meegan added. "It was great. Especially the "oh sh-t" moment at the end with our logo."
Easy To See Why Browns Reached Out
Aside from the obvious reasons, it's not hard to see why the Cleveland Browns were interested in teaming with Chicago-based DUDE Wipes for their uniform tease, then rollout. If you follow DUDE Wipes' Twitter account, you'd know that the brand constantly stands out with their creative, unique and well-timed tweets, often in reply to Taco Bell, Chipotle or in reference to those mid-game oopsie poopsies...
Cleveland (basketball) killer and NBA Hall of Famer, Paul Pierce, can attest. Even if he continues to insist DUDE Wipes weren't necessary...
The brand's social creativity and frequency is something constantly on the mind of the DUDE Wipes gang. Meegan explained as much: "We just kind of keep our eyes peeled and we're always staying on top of current events. Anything that is relatable to us and to where we can throw bathroom humor and shade at, that's where we jump on. And it gets us a lot of good PR."
Cleveland surely agrees. With DUDE Wipes along for the ride, Browns players will wear the new threads for three games this fall. Fittingly, they'll also put a major emphasis on going for two, thanks to the generosity of their White Out series presenting partner.
"We're sponsoring every time the Browns go for two this year," DUDE Wipes' Ryan Meegan told OutKick. "If they attempt a two-point conversion, we're sending 2,000 wipes to our partner, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation. For every successful two-point conversion we're going to send $2,000 dollars to Crohn's & Colitis Foundation."
Just one more reason for Cleveland fans to hope the Browns avoid a losing skid.
Follow along on Twitter: @OhioAF