- Alix Earle returns for her second consecutive summer campaign with Hawaiian Tropic, following the brand's 2025 Tana Sutra campaign, the largest creative campaign in Hawaiian Tropic's history at the time.
- The Summer 2026 campaign, titled Dance Your Way to a Sun-Kissed Glow, features a full-length music video set to the Divinyls' '90s hit "I Touch Myself," with dance-driven SPF application moves choreographed by Grammy-winning choreographer Robbie Blue.
- Hawaiian Tropic, owned by Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE: EPC), is also officially partnering with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit as the magazine's exclusive suncare sponsor for 2026, a first in the brand's 50+ year history.
- Earle recently landed the 2026 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover and has active investment stakes in beverage brands SIPMARGS, Poppi, and GORGIE.
Hawaiian Tropic is kicking off Summer 2026 with a campaign that turns sunscreen application into a full-on dance party, and Alix Earle is back to lead the charge for the second year running.
The campaign, built around a music video set to the Divinyls’ iconic “I Touch Myself,” reimagines SPF application as a choreographed, confidence-boosting routine.
Grammy-winning choreographer Robbie Blue created the moves, which double as suncare application steps. The video was shot in Los Angeles by director Aerin Moreno, who also helmed Earle’s 2025 Tana Sutra campaign with the brand. Creative agency BBH USA handled the campaign.
The timing is no accident. Earle came off a standout run as a runner-up on Dancing with the Stars Season 33 and was just announced as one of four cover models for the 2026 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, a magazine Hawaiian Tropic is now officially partnering with as its exclusive suncare sponsor.
Outside of suncare, Earle recently invested in cocktail brand SIPMARGS alongside Sazerac, adding to her stakes in Poppi and GORGIE.
Much like Robert Irwin’s 2026 partnership with Columbia Sportswear, Earle’s deal shows how personality-driven influencer talent is increasingly anchoring major seasonal brand campaigns.
Hawaiian Tropic has a history of tapping digital-native talent. The brand previously worked with influencers Bethany Mota, Megan Nicole, and Claudia Sulewski for its 2017 Silk Hydration Weightless launch.
The pivot to Earle, however, marks a sharper shift toward high-reach, personality-led campaigns. In the SPF space specifically, this kind of celebrity-fronted approach is becoming a playbook: Misty Copeland’s recent partnership with Merit on its SPF launch reflects the same trend of brands using credible, culturally resonant faces to destigmatize sun protection.
The campaign launches with a full music video, social media takeovers, and a dance tutorial co-led by Earle, Blue, and assistant choreographer Lucas Debiasi.
Takeaways
This deal is a masterclass in campaign continuity. Hawaiian Tropic didn’t just re-sign Alix Earle, they deepened the relationship by leaning into what made the first campaign work: her personality, her ability to make beauty feel fun, and her huge reach with Gen Z. The Tana Sutra campaign was already called the brand’s biggest ever in 2025. This one is engineered to top it.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit partnership is the real headline buried in the campaign release. For a brand that spent decades running its own swimsuit pageants, becoming the official suncare partner of the world’s most famous swimsuit publication is a full-circle cultural moment, and it signals Hawaiian Tropic is back in the mainstream in a serious way.
The use of a ’90s anthem as campaign soundtrack is also a deliberate move. “I Touch Myself” is both nostalgic and provocative, exactly the tone Hawaiian Tropic has always tried to own. Pairing it with a dance-as-application concept makes the product the entertainment, not just the sponsor of it.
Does turning SPF application into a viral dance trend actually change how younger consumers think about sun protection or is it just clever content? Alix Earle has invested in beverage brands and is reportedly launching a company in 2026. At what point does a brand like Hawaiian Tropic need to worry about her personal brand growing bigger than the campaign itself?
