Wet Ones turns hands into bottoms for ads too cheeky for the subway

Wet Ones has filled New York with photographs of hands that look like bare bottoms, reminding customers its wipes are “Just For Hands”.

Created by BBH USA and shot by photographer Ale Burset, the campaign turns fingers, palms and knuckles into deceptively cheeky close-ups.

The idea follows a OnePulse study which, according to the brand, found more than half of Americans admitted to using a hand wipe on an intimate area. Cue the line: “No ifs, ands or butts.”

The launch began with a staged celebrity scandal. Gossip account DeuxMoi shared a seemingly revealing photograph of television personality Kyle Cooke. What appeared to be his bare backside was actually his hand.

Wet Ones says New York City transit declined to run the creative underground.

Instead, the campaign spans street-level screens, bus shelters, wrapped buses and Times Square. Sampling walls dispense wipes, while a social competition invites people to submit their own “hand butt” photographs for a Times Square appearance.

“We saw an opportunity to have some fun, push the creative and get people talking,” said Veronique Mura, general manager and senior vice president, Body & Skin at Edgewell Personal Care.

“Every image is designed to pull you in, make you look twice, and then land on one very simple truth: Wet Ones are for hands only,” said BBH USA executive creative director Yohan Daver.

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