Our work demonstrates how a viral film can disrupt a highly competitive category by initiating the “fakevertising” cultural trend in the beauty industry. Mascara advertising is all about drama… and most brands rely on product demos or influencers to dramatise their product.

Instead of taking the traditional route of product demos, fake lashes, retouching and influencers, Maybelline decided to break all the norms of mascara advertising and give our audience a real “fake” news story to talk about. Maybelline created a viral film engineered to take social media by storm and send clout-obsessed beauty consumers into a frenzy.

In the UK the rise of social media & influencer culture defines the rhythm of the beauty industry and is critical in deciding which products go “viral”.

With virality directing sales in the market, many brands have flocked to social channels with sponsored beauty comms, specifically reliant on influencer content, in the attempt to make their products “go viral”. While influencer-endorsed products have taken the beauty industry by storm, turning the social landscape into a sea of product ads; there has also been a rise in exaggerated product claims and false demonstrations by several influencers. While influencer content has been effective in driving sales, it has also generated distrust in beauty content.

As a result, many consumers are becoming disenchanted with influencers who have been increasingly demonstrating unrealistic product benefits, fake lashes, airbrushing, retouching.

As the #1 make-up brand in the UK, we are known for big, traditional beauty campaigns. But this time, we wanted to rewrite the rule book of beauty advertising and make it more human and real. We could have gone big with influencers or launched an expensive traditional campaign, but we decided to do something completely out of the box.

We wanted to produce a piece of creative work that wouldn’t sell but entertain and make the beauty category more fun and human at the same time. So, we decided to take human faces out of the equation altogether…putting a spin on “fake” in a way that would entertain and connect with our audience.

Since 2016, product sales in the beauty industry have been dictated by influencers and social media. This was especially true in the mascara category, overcrowded with fake: cookie-cutter influencer content, inflated product claims and exaggerated (sometimes fake) lashes.

In order to boost the sales of our Sky High Mascara we had to stand out in an ocean of artifice.

We know virality equals sales in this cluttered category and the traditional method would be to engage an expensive influencer campaign with all the fake glam to get people talking and buying. Or we could do something totally different.

Putting a spin on “fake” in a way that entertains and engages our audience, in a way that no make-up brand has ever done before.

Instead of exaggerating our product benefits with fake lashes, influencers and demos, we decided to, quite literally, exaggerate our product in our “fake-vertising”

We decided to collaborate with an independent artist rather than an advertisement agency to keep our social content authentic and native to the platform. We sought talent that possessed the power to halt you in your tracks, and so it was on Instagram that we crossed paths with the remarkable work of artist, Ian Padgham.

The social media stunt needed to feature our iconic #1 mascara, but we deliberately didn’t over-brief to avoid the concept becoming too ad-like and dated. Instead, our objective was to create something so realistic, it would spark speculation on whether Maybelline actually managed to pull the stunt off in real life or not.

After initial brainstorms, we agreed on putting giant lashes on public transport. The silliness of humanising mundane objects instantly sparked feelings of joy and humour. We ultimately lent into gut instinct over the typical influencer formula that we've used in the past.

We aimed to shift consumer perceptions of Maybelline, transforming it from a corporate makeup brand selling products into a dynamic lifestyle brand that celebrates culture—a vision akin to becoming the 'Nike of the makeup world.'

Our aspiration was to transcend the expectations typically associated with glossy brands like Maybelline, and so many other makeup brands that use influencer content by:

1. Infusing the video with the distinct flavour of UK cultural resonance

2. Creating the element of surprise that captures our audience’s imagination and fosters organic social engagement.

Our goal was to create an unforgettable statement. This strategy was not just about selling products; it was about cultivating a lasting impression with our audience, creating genuine human connection with - ironically - no humans at all! Elevating Maybelline to a cultural icon in the makeup realm.

The setting of the CGI was filmed in London in June, with the CGI giant mascara wand added in post-production. We didn’t want the ad to feel overly produced, but rather, as if the content was candidly shot by a passer-by who whipped out their phone and started recording on the street. This is why we chose to forgo any embellishments in post-production, such as branding or music, allowing only the authentic, pedestrian sounds of passing trains and bustling traffic.

In total, the execution took just over 8 weeks, from the initial brief, to airing on Tik Tok on Thursday 6th July. The post was only live for 1 day before it began being organically screen-recorded, stitched, and reposted across multiple social media accounts, showcasing the power of a strong social content idea on a limited budget of £20-£25k, without the use of typical formats such as influencers, before/afters...etc.

We achieved our objective of landing Maybelline into social conversation with 150 million organic views in the 1st week of launch, achieving over 8 million engagements. It appeared in several publications organically, reaching over 825m PR circulation.

It wasn’t only beauty enthusiasts losing their minds over our film; Steven Bartlett created a Youtube video about the ad and drew comparisons to the Kylie Jenner x ASOS copycat version.

With one small CGI video that cost £25k, Maybelline saw the strongest ROI ever. With a remarkable +298% upsurge in earned media value. The result was the most successful sales period for Sky High year-to-date; +118% sales uplift and the biggest peak of sales during the week of virality.

But most importantly our viral film started the new wave of CGI films and fake OOH trend in the beauty category, and beyond with many brands following in our footsteps!