At first, I thought it was a hoax. Or a gimmick. Or, perhaps, when I opened the box, I’d receive an unexpected surprise. It could not be real, could it?

What are the chances that a company really makes a soap that uses, as a key ingredient, my favorite Bourbon?

But there it was, the Buffalo Trace logo smack dab all over the box, with the words, “actually made with Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.” Is it possible that I could walk into church on Sunday morning giving off the aroma of what I drank Saturday night? Not through my pores but from my shower?

I curiously extracted the soap from the box, and damn if it didn’t smell like it just poured out of a bourbon barrel. The other thing that struck me was the size of the soap bar. If you have little piano player hands, you won’t be able to hold it with one mitt.

I did not purchase it that day. I remained skeptical. Until it showed up in my Christmas stocking. My daughters were up to mischief. So, I tried it. It was a gift, after all. I liked it. A lot.

Then I researched from where it came – the Duke Cannon Supply Company. From a marketing perspective, the best thing that Duke Cannon does is tell you all about itself – without telling you about itself.

In the Wizard of Ads lexicon, we call this Being Robert Frank. More about that later.

When I first stumbled upon the bourbon soap, Duke Cannon was not in any known retail store in America. Their website was their primary engine of commerce. When I clicked on the “About Us” page, I was met with this:

In a World Full of Weak Handshakes, Here’s a Finger-Crushing Introduction.

Duke Cannon hails from a simpler time. A time when the term handyman was redundant. A time when chivalry and patriotism weren’t considered old-fashioned. When you never put the word “salad” next to “bar.

The next three paragraphs mirror the first.

Its mission statement is: “Duke Cannon Supply Company makes superior-quality grooming goods that meet the high standards of hard-working men.”

That’s a succinct mission statement. Duke Cannon also makes clear that they are huge supporters of U.S. Veterans. On every product it’s stamped, “A portion of proceeds benefit U.S. Veterans.”

They support nearly a dozen veteran’s causes like Folds of Honor and the Gary Sinise Foundation. When they are developing a new product, they utilize the men and women in the military to test the new product before it goes to market. And the size and shape of their soap bars, 5”x3” (and 10 ounces) was inspired by the product that was issued to U.S. GIs during the Korean War.

The soap, however, isn’t called a bar of soap, it’s called a Big Ass Brick of Soap (or BABOS for those of us in the know). The body wash isn’t called such because it’s not – it’s THICK. And one would never use the term ‘soap on a rope’ because it’s called the Tactical Scrubber (a strategic product that I used after having back surgery because I couldn’t drop the BABOS in the shower).

Here are some of the names of their BABOS: Trophy Game, Naval Diplomacy, Victory, Accomplishment, Productivity, Big Texas Beer Soap (one of 3 beer-inspired soaps, this one made with Lone Star beer), Bay Rum, Midnight Swim, and High Country. Many of the soap boxes are decorated with artwork drawn from the World Wars and the Korean War. Others are imprinted with depictions of men working in the trades.

For their hair care products, they invite you in by stating, “A man of purpose doesn’t have time to make a hobby out of his hair, yet he understands the need to look like he gives a damn.”

Its beard products state they are “for cultivating the beard of a world champion. Not for clowns.”

Its favorite universal tag line is, “Work Harder. Smell Better.”

On their blog (which is called the Journal) they have articles headlined by such clever thoughts as: “Snacks Santa Would Appreciate more than Milk and Cookies,” or “Duke Cannon’s Guide to Leaf Blower Etiquette,” or “Duke Cannon’s Guide to a Successful Family Road Trip,” or “How to Win a Hot Dog Eating Contest.”

How could you NOT open an email with a header like, “Parting Ways with Your Lawnmower for the Year,” or “Duke Cannon’s Favorite College Mascots,” or “Duke Cannon’s Tailgating Refresher.”

You can’t purchase Duke Cannon products in Macy’s, Nordstrom, or Bloomingdale’s. But you will find them in Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Ace Hardware. You won’t find Duke Cannon producing television commercials focused on the absurd ruse that your wife is always stealing your body wash.

Back to Robert Frank for a second. Robert Frank was a photographer and is an OG. What distinguished his photographs from the rest were: a. his unusual selection of detail; b. he was economical in his inclusion of detail; c. he was a master of frameline magnetism. He took photographs from unusual angles and only included the most significant details. He trusted his audience to fill in what might be missing.

After what I’ve told you so far, do I have to explain what the Duke Cannon product called Bloody Knuckles is? Can you guess?

In a Forbes.com article for the Forbes Coaching Council, Larry Boyer of Success Rockets LLC says,

“The most fundamental part of Branding is truly understanding who you are so that you can align all of your actions and your environment. The deeper your understanding of values, vision, and other brand attributes, the better able you are to align all parts of your life consistent with your brand…”

Duke Cannon tells you who they are by some distinguishing marketing characteristics: the size of the products, the names of the products, the quality of the products, and the places you can purchase the products.

At StickyBranding.com, their hypothesis is that there are four factors that determine whether or not a brand is sticky: 1. Your customers understand you, 2. Your customers choose you first, 3. Your customers come back again and again, 4. Your customers brag about you.

If you want to create a sticky brand without telling your customers about it, give me a shout, I promise I won’t get Bloody Knuckles.

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