Dallas-Based ~Pourri 'Flips That Funk' With New Music Video Brand Campaign

Dallas-based ~Pourri made headlines in January when it dropped the “Poo” from the front of its name, expanding its mission to be “a natural odor elimination company” that can tackle odors everywhere. Now it’s turned that mission into a whole new vibe—with a wildly entertaining music video brand campaign.

This week the company launched “Flip That Funk”: a series of videos shot in Amsterdam, mixing Euro dance moves with good old Texas funk.

“You know when you’re at a party and all of a sudden, a funk song comes on and everyone immediately heads to the dance floor?” founder and CEO Suzy Batiz told Dallas Innovates. “It makes you want to dance and move! So, we took the negative connotation of the word ‘funk’ and how things can smell ‘funky,’ and thought about how our ~Pourri products actually flip the funk on odor.”

Seeing The Ghetto Funk Collective—then booking a flight to Amsterdam

From ~Pourri’s “Flip That Funk” campaign, this shot by Maurice van der Meijs features the Ghetto Funk Collective. [Photo provided by ~Pourri]

Batiz’ idea fully came alive when she stumbled across Amsterdam-based Ghetto Funk Collective on social media, doing ’70s style “locking” dance moves to a Rick James song.

“I immediately called up Paul [Levatino, ~Pourri’s executive creative producer] and told him, ‘We have to go to Amsterdam to meet these dancers and finally bring this idea that I’ve been manifesting for years to life!'” Batiz said. “One month later we were filming with an incredible crew and the Ghetto Funk Collective in Amsterdam. It was a dream come true.”

It all led to this Pet~Pourri spot—the first of five “Flip That Funk” videos to be released:

“I loved the way we could naturally combine the two ideas of the Funk Movement and tackling funky odors in a way that would liberate the world from the feeling of embarrassment and bring some fun to a subject most people don’t like to talk about,” Batiz said.

Amsterdam shoot for a song with Texas funk roots

~Pourri Founder and CEO Suzy Batiz (in purple T-shirt) at the Amsterdam shoot. [Photo: ~Pourri]

Amsterdam-based director Ayla Spaans helmed the video shoots, which feature interpretative “locking” dance moves performed by the Ghetto Funk Collective. The campaign was produced locally by photographer Maurice van der Meijs, who’s also a part of the Collective.

Song created by Dallas and Austin music talent

But what really fuels the videos is the original music track “Funk Check!” And for that, Batiz turned to Texas-based artists.

“I wanted to stay true to the authentic vibe of the campaign, so we recruited many of our friends—RC Williams & The Gritz, Black Joe Lewis, Matt Pence, Electrophunck—who are masters rooted in soul, R&B, blues, and jazz,” Batiz told us. “All of which create the very foundation of Funk Music, which we all know was manifested in the South, so it was easy to keep it to the Texas-based family!”

The song’s music was composed by Dallas-based RC Williams and fellow members of The Gritz, Braylon Lacy and Jonathan Mones. It was remixed by Electrophunck and its lyrics were written in collaboration with Batiz, ~Pourri VP of Creative Nicole Story, and Ernie Nickels.

The track was laid down by engineer and producer Matt Pence at his retro recording studio, The Echo Lab, located on a farm 10 minutes outside Denton.

2014 ‘Girls Don’t Poop’ campaign has had 45M views

~Pourri is hoping that “Flip That Funk” will blast into full-blown viral territory. The company has been there before: Its 2014 campaign “Girls Don’t Poop” has had nearly 45 million views. In all, the brand’s campaigns have received over 400 million views, the company said, earning over 100,000 5-star reviews and helping ~Pourri sell over 100 million bottles to date.

The new “Flip That Funk” videos will be launched as a full media campaign across Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Launching in phases, the five-part video series will feature each of its core products: Poo~Pourri Before You Go Toilet Spray, Home~Pourri Air + Fabric Spray, Pit~Pourri Aluminum-Free Deodorant, Sole~Pourri Shoe + Foot Spray, Pet~Pourri Pawsitively Fresh Air + Fabric Spray and 2-in-1 Odor Eliminating Candle, and Pot~Pourri Smoke Odor Eliminator.

Ahead of launching Flip That Funk, the ~Pourri digital and social teams did a variety of ad testing to find the campaign’s “sweet spot,” the company noted, adding that it had tested the “Girls Don’t Poop” campaign before its launch as well.

“Music has always played a huge role throughout my life,” Batiz said. “It paths the road for self-expression and emotion—even the frequency of music can make you fall in love or heal sickness.”

Now we’re about to see what a little funk can do for one of Dallas’ quirkiest—and most successful—brands.