E.l.f. Cosmetics is going through backlash after releasing an advert starring comic Matt Rife, who has beforehand joked about home violence.
On Aug. 11, the funds magnificence model launched its newest marketing campaign, “e.l.f.ino & Schmarnes,” that includes Rife and drag star Heidi N Closet in a parody of a private damage advert. Set in a courtroom, the humorous setup made a case towards make-up markups to advertise E.l.f.’s lower-priced choices.
Nonetheless, critics on-line referred to as out the model for casting Rife, who got here beneath hearth in 2023 for making a joke about home violence in his Netflix particular.
On Wednesday, E.l.f. posted an announcement to Instagram, saying it had “missed the mark.”
“We’re all the time listening and we’ve heard you,” the model stated. “This marketing campaign aimed to humorously highlight magnificence justice. We perceive we missed the mark with individuals we care about in our e.l.f. neighborhood.”
“Whereas e.l.f.ino & schmarnes closes at present, we’ll proceed to make the case towards overpriced magnificence.”
An E.l.f. spokesperson didn’t present remark to ADWEEK by the point of publication.
Kory Marchisotto, world chief advertising officer of E.l.f. Magnificence, instructed the Enterprise of Style that the corporate selected Rife as a result of his TikTok followers are 80% feminine and 75% are beneath the age of 34, which overlaps with the model’s target market of Gen Z ladies.
Promoting is making individuals mad
E.l.f. is the most recent model to spark backlash with an advert.
American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney marketing campaign, which launched on July 23, has confirmed probably the most controversial advertisements of this yr, drawing criticism for selling “pro-eugenics” beliefs.
That very same month, Dunkin’ drew ire for additionally mentioning genetics in an advert starring The Summer season I Turned Fairly star Gavin Casalengo.
E.l.f. is understood for utilizing humor and satire in its advert campaigns, which have beforehand featured stars like Choose Judy and Jennifer Coolidge.
Regardless of focusing on overpriced magnificence, E.l.f.’s new advert didn’t point out that the model raised its costs by $1 as of Aug. 1, citing President Donald Trump’s tariffs and inflation.
