Our casting strategy was dedicated to every eye, lip and face – from sensational pop stars to e.l.f.ing icons. We cast inspiring, multi-generational talent, demonstrating e.l.f.’s commitment to inclusivity, accessibility, and reflecting what our community seeks in culture. In addition, we intentionally included digitally native influencers in our talent mix who played a pivotal role in extending reach and impact beyond television throughout the campaign's life cycle. The campaign transcended a 30s & 60s spot, weaving an immersive narrative through episodic social teasers and 30+ distinct pieces of “surround sound” content.

e.l.f. is a different kind of beauty company – they identify as bold disruptors with a kind heart. e.l.f. proudly speaks up and speaks out, because they genuinely believe in serving beauty JUSTICE to all.

As we approached our second year on advertising’s largest stage in the U.S. – the Big Game (aka Super Bowl Sunday) – our goal was to propagate e.l.f.’s message in culture: the best of beauty should be accessible to every eye, lip and face.

We considered a few key insights:

(1) Diverse representation is historically absent in commercials at the Big Game. In 2023, e.l.f. was in a position to serve a massive audience that up until that point had not been intentionally catered to: women (who constitute nearly half of the viewers). In addition, ads also tend to represent young adults, lighter skin tones, and heterosexual relationships/talent. These insights proved to be not only valuable, but crucial for changing the representation conversation.

(2) Courtroom drama found a renewed and captivating presence globally. With 2023’s record-shattering resurgence of Suits, the world’s continued fascination with Judge Judy in her Emmy award-winning series Judy Justice, and the runaway hit show Jury Duty, court was in session at numerous homes around the world.

(3) The beauty world, especially on social, is rife with judgment and beauty injustice. Cultural conversations comparing quality and price are a hotly debated topic.

Situation:

- e.l.f. returned to the Big Game with its second-ever commercial: Judge Beauty. We brought e.l.f.’s brand world to life through the lens of courtroom drama, casting Judge Judy Sheindlin and an ensemble of characters to make the case for affordable cosmetics for all.

Brief:

- e.l.f. enlisted our agency for the second consecutive year to concept, script, cast, produce, shoot and edit the Big Game spot, with an integrated omni-channel campaign that lasted months.

- Our charge was to tap into real-time culture to hero their best selling product of 2023, Halo Glow Liquid Filter, and cast talent who reflected conversations of the moment.

Objectives:

- Rewrite the Big Game entertainment playbook, bringing e.l.f.’s values to the stage through our creative.

- Reimagine how beauty shows up in entertainment, sports and culture, illustrating e.l.f.’s belief that beauty belongs to everyone.

What if we reimagined the cultural institution of daytime courtroom TV through the lens of beauty? Welcome Judge Beauty, presiding over e.l.f. Court and setting the record straight on beauty truths.

The slogan: IN E.L.F. WE TRUST. The mission: Serve EYES.LIPS.FACTS.

A courtroom was the perfect setting to amplify e.l.f.’s strong value system with real authority and our message to the industry at large: e.l.f. objects to overpriced makeup.

The plaintiff, Rick Hoffman (Suits), accuses our Defendant, Gina Torres (Suits), of wasting company funds on overpriced makeup. Gina confesses to spending $92 on luxury foundation and is found “Guilty!” of reckless spending. Judge Beauty sentences her to “$14 glowy skin” through e.l.f. best-seller, Halo Glow Liquid Filter – thus supporting e.l.f.’s core brand value of making beauty accessible to every eye, lip and face.

To reflect e.l.f.’s national TV buy this year, we found a timely pop-culture “house” to embed and deliver a clear brand message: quality beauty does not need to come at a high price.

Cultural insights and audience viewing data around the fanfare of courtroom drama helped shape the creative framework for Judge Beauty.

For casting, while e.l.f. has a stronghold on Gen Z, part of their mission is to attract new audiences. We opened up the aperture to reflect e.l.f.’s community today and all who are invited, and we cast a roster that reflected the brand’s values of accessibility to all and diversity.

Finally, e.l.f. is a brand deeply embedded in social conversations and trends. In shaping our approach, we considered the culture of the beauty-verse and leveraged digitally-native creators to extend the campaign’s reach and impact beyond television.

Implementation:

- We honored courtroom TV by casting the #1 TV judge and reuniting a Suits trio.

- Social-first creators like Benny Drama extended the campaign beyond television.

- Our talent represented the “citizenry” of e.l.f. watching the Big Game at home.

Timeline:

- We filmed the case and brought the courtroom to life in seven weeks, from campaign shoot to spot reveal.

Placement:

- The 30s Hero Spot aired on Linear and Connected TV during the Super Bowl leading into the halftime show, as well as programming like The Oscars and Saturday Night Live – driving e.l.f.’s connection to culture.

- The 60s Hero Spot and myriad of social cutdowns were built for Digital and Social placement, and informed an OOH billboard in Hollywood.

Scale:

- Judge Beauty exceeded all previous brand benchmarks, becoming a cultural phenomenon that flooded the feeds and reached consumers new and familiar to e.l.f.

Brand Perception:

- Recognized by Adweek, Ad Age, GLAAD, and more for intergenerational casting from different demos to drive home an inclusive marketing message.

- Judge Beauty had the highest relevance rating of any 2024 Super Bowl ads tested, and a creative effectiveness score in the top 5% of the Ipsos database.

- 75% of women surveyed felt positive about e.l.f.’s commercial, and 67% wanted to learn more about the brand after viewing.

Achievement Against Business Targets:

- According to Ipsos, the e.l.f. ad exemplified leveraging celebrity power to support the brand's message and earned a Brand Attention Index Score of 145 (normal is 85 to 115).

Engagement:

- Directly following our ad, there was a 148% increase in traffic to e.l.f.’s site.

Sales:

- Site sales increased ~+50% YoY (Monday pre-Big Game vs. Sunday post-Big Game).

Reach:

- We’ve generated 105 billion media impressions to date.