Since his days studying film at the University of Colorado Boulder, David Dinetz’s creativity and passion has always stood out. Dinetz met his long term collaborator Dylan Trussell while studying film at CU. The duo’s first short film, Chainsaw, received massive acclaim winning “Short of the Week,” and was later presented on television by horror grandmaster John Carpenter in his short films of the year anthology.
David Dinetz
From writing and directing commercials for streetwear brands for free to get their start, Dinetz and Trussell realized their life’s mission early on: “Saving The World From Boredom.” With the simple goal of creating content that they would actually want to watch, they have kept at this steadfast mission through everything creative project since, from films, TV and Superbowl commercials into now building their own DTC fashion industry disrupting brand: Culprit Underwear. These business partners have done it all together and their modus operandi embodies the two founders’ commitment to creativity and entertainment. In their early days in Los Angeles, Dinetz and Trussell took the advertising industry by storm with their boutique production company, Culprit Creative. Since its inception, the agency created advertisements for Beats by Dre, Starbucks, the official launch of Instagram Stories, and a Mercedes Superbowl commercial narrated by Jon Hamm. With an industry-leading ability to make a commercial go viral, it should come as no surprise that major brands entrust these important campaigns to Dinetz and Trussell. In 2015, Dinetz and Trussell felt a yearning to honor their first love and make a movie. This led to the creation of the social media star-studded film, Airplane Mode, which captured Hollywood’s attention through its unusual approach. The film featured some of the most popular faces on social media: David Dobrik, Lele Pons, Logan Paulm, King Bach, Juanpa Zurita, and Amanda Cerny, and was sold to YouTube Originals. Continuing to illustrate their creative versatility, the dynamic duo is currently working on their newest feature film, Road Rally, which tells the story of a real-life wild and dangerous high school scavenger hunt.
While pursuing their lifelong dreams of creating movies, Dinetz and Trussell felt compelled to apply their advertising expertise to a product of their own. Having helped countless other major brands with highly successful commercials and marketing campaigns, Dinetz and Trussell wanted to put their skills to the test by starting a new brand from scratch. Not only did this represent a challenge, being the crowded industry that the underwear market is, but it also presented an opportunity for the two to go all out without needing to water their ideas down for the sake of protecting someone else’s brand. Eventually, the two creative entrepreneurs decided to create the most original underwear brand in history as underwear represented a blank canvas for them to create on. This marked the birth of Culprit Underwear. Dinetz and Trussell actually traveled all around the world and spent a great deal of time searching for the best material they could find. This work has paid off as Culprit Underwear is one of the fastest-growing underwear brands in America due to its comfort and breathability as well as its wild limited edition prints and exciting branding. Dinetz and Trussell aspire to create underwear that becomes every consumers’ ‘lucky underwear’ reserved for important dates, interviews, and life events. Culprit Underwear is described as “Sexy enough for a hot date, breathable enough for a long flight, supportive enough for the gym, and made in an eco-friendly, vertical mill, with the utmost attention to detail and quality control.” The designs and branding represent the duo’s fun personalities and marketing expertise, which has resulted in viral commercials, social media videos, and billboards.
Culprit Underwear drops a new line every month with boxers featuring novel characters and universes that are as intricate as they are entertaining. Displaying their creative vigor and desire to not hold back their ideas, one of Culprit Underwear’s most popular prints features drug-dealing velociraptors in 1980s Miami called Raptor Vice. No other brand would venture to do something like this – and consumers are rewarding Culprit for it with their loyalty. Eventually, Culprit launched LadyBoxers, the female version of their popular men’s line, which offers boxers specifically tailored for women and incorporates the same premier quality and design as Culprit’s mens lines. It should come as no surprise that the advertising efforts for the brand are stellar given the founders’ background. To this point, the first Lady Boxers ad garnered 8 million views. As these two creative visionaries continue to inspire others and make waves in their industries, be sure to follow along for all things to come.
