Murphy’s Naturals, a bug repellent company and Certified B Corporation, set out to redefine an established category by proving that powerful bug protection doesn’t require compromising the health of people or the planet. Rooted in a mission to protect the outdoors, the brand formulates its products exclusively with natural ingredients—earning trust through transparency, responsibility, and environmental stewardship.
The challenge was clear: while consumers increasingly value natural solutions, they remain skeptical of their effectiveness. In a category long dominated by harsh chemicals, “natural” is often perceived as a trade‑off rather than a true alternative.
Murphy’s Naturals holds one of the highest concentrations of active natural repellent ingredients in the industry—delivering performance that rivals, and often surpasses, traditional chemical formulas. The opportunity was to shift perception, demonstrate efficacy, and prove that natural repellents can be a formidable force in keeping pests away.
Mosquitoes have one of the most sophisticated olfactory systems in the natural world—finely tuned to locate humans with remarkable precision. Our brand’s all‑natural repellents work by disrupting that detection, masking human scents with botanicals mosquitoes instinctively avoid.
To spotlight this science in an unexpected and culturally resonant way, we drew a parallel between what repels insects and what repels humans. Just as mosquitoes recoil from lemon eucalyptus oil, people have their own “pests” that come in the form of office lurkers, nosy neighbors, and meddling in‑laws. These can easily be repelled with powerful, natural odors like microwaved fish and stinky gym bags.
For April Fool’s Day, we introduced a fictional product that cleverly demonstrated our expertise in natural repellent technology: Human Repellent. This satirical line promised protection not from insects, but from the everyday social irritants we all recognize.
The concept reframed our core ingredient story through humor—turning the science of mosquito behavior into a compelling insight about human behavior.
We produced a retro‑inspired infomercial that announced Human Repellent as our “latest breakthrough innovation.” Shot in a single day with a production budget of $0, the piece leaned into lo‑fi charm and vintage visual cues to enhance its comedic credibility.
Despite its intentionally scrappy production design, the content delivered a sharp, memorable message: our brand understands natural repellents better than anyone—and we’re not afraid to have fun with that expertise.
What started as a simple April Fool’s joke quickly became one of the brand’s most engaging posts. Our “Human Repellent” video didn’t just get laughs—it delivered 3.75x the industry benchmark for engagement per follower, sparking a wave of comments, shares, and genuine delight from the community.
Beyond the numbers, the campaign helped open the door to something bigger: the launch of the “We Love Bugs” brand platform. By playfully inviting our audience to see the world from a bug’s point of view, the content helped set the tone for a more empathetic, lighthearted way of talking about insects and the outdoors.
