How does CeraVe, a clinical skincare brand developed by dermatologists, become a global cultural phenomenon? By creating an internet conspiracy that the brand was actually created by actor Michael Cera. To make things harder: Michael isn't on social media and didn’t offer media access. So we orchestrated a robust earned media PR plan. For four-weeks, 2K+ publications globally (from Daily Mail to a NYTimes exclusive) covered the skincare conspiracy keeping CeraVe at the center of culture. While most Super Bowl commercials are the hero, ours was the culmination of a worldwide conversation with 15.4B impressions BEFORE the spot even aired.

Skincare Context: CeraVe is a clinical skincare brand developed by dermatologists. But more and more celebrities are entering the skincare space, exceeding $1B in beauty sales in 2023 (Nielsen). And competitors are copying CeraVe’s claims about being developed with derms and having three ceramides)

Celebrity Context: Michael Cera is a cult favorite actor known for Juno, Arrested Development, and “Allan” in Barbie. He plays unassuming, awkward and lovable characters. Cera doesn’t fit the typical beauty spokesperson (Rihana, Selena Gomez...) or have any social media. But his famously youthful face, shared name with CeraVe, and mild manner made him the perfect unexpected antagonist to get everyone talking.

Super Bowl Context: CeraVe has a niche audience on TikTok. The Super Bowl provided a unique opportunity to bring it to the masses.

CeraVe is the #1 dermatologist-recommended skincare brand in the US. But competitors were stealing CeraVe's core claim that they are developed by Dermatologists.

So CeraVe was headed to its first ever Super Bowl to (1) mint CeraVe as THE brand developed with Dermatologists and (2) elevate CeraVe from a cult, niche social following into a cultural phenomenon all around the world.

But people watching the Super Bowl want celebrities and comedy. Not dermatologists and ceramides. And CeraVe wanted to become a cultural icon without compromising their core values.

To achieve this, CeraVe set the following KPIs: 1B impressions, 50 articles, 74k website traffic, +3% audience growth, and Top 10 share of voice during the game.

(All of which the campaign achieved and then some).

A traditional campaign about dermatologists and ceramides would be ignored. We needed a way to use a celebrity while hero'ing dermatologists. So we created a PR-led conspiracy that CeraVe was developed by Michael Cera (same name.. baby-soft skin... you get it...)

This breakthrough idea was risky– especially for a quiet skincare brand. We couldn’t even promote that CeraVe was in the Super Bowl. To make it even more difficult: Michael Cera has no social presence and requested no media access.

So we re-wrote the traditional PR playbook. We created a four-week first-of-its-kind conspiracy. We paired each piece of content with the perfect publication to maximize earned media and sell the story. Tabloids for leaks and paparazzi photos. Fashion and beauty for skincare speculation. National publications for mass appeal. We treated it like a conspiracy not a campaign, and sparked a full-blown global conspiracy resulting in 20.8B organic global media impressions.

CeraVe has a niche, cult following on TikTok. But the core consumer base was 78% women, average age 40+. To become a cultural icon, CeraVe wanted to grow the audience to have mass appeal including Gen Z and men– while still appealing to their base consumer.

Our strategic insight was that Dermatologists are the celebrities of CeraVe, NOT a celebrity A-List spokesperson.

We had a huge challenge: how do you sell in a conspiracy without lying to journalists? (Which we never did).

Our PR earned media approach brought media into the fold and let them actively participate, resulting in more authentic and compelling coverage that resonated deeply with audiences. That started with calculated "paparazzi" leaks to tabloids like Daily Mail. As the story escalated, we leveraged cultural interest and our key influencers to secure coverage within lifestyle and entertainment publications, culminating with an exclusive NYTimes piece to reveal the truth.

Our conspiracy started 4-weeks prior to the Super Bowl. It rolled out over three distinct acts to tell the PR-driven story: (1) fake news campaign (2) public fight between Cera and CeraVe (3) a resolution at the Big Game.

We started with influencer @HayleeBaylee "spotted" Cera signing CeraVe bottles. Then we "leaked" paparazzi photos (covered in Daily Mail / Page 6). Cera walked off an interview with Bobbi Althoff. We partnered with F Jerry, meme creators, podcasters...

Then, the brand jumped in and used its social channels and an army of dermatologists to fight back. CeraVe released an official statement. Beauty publications wondered if Cera was a "cream genius" or a new skinfluencer. The conspiracy was everywhere, with 2K+ publications worldwide.

Which all lead to the "Perfect" (TODAY) Super Bowl commercial culminating the "Masterpiece" (Adweek) to the "Ultra prolonged ultra meta campaign" (NYTimes), settling things in front of a

Overall objective: Elevate CeraVe to the status of cultural icon.

Result: #1 SB Campaign (GQ, Forbes, Adweek, Adage)

Result: Most moisturizer sales in CeraVe history (*for one-week)

Goal: 1B earned impressions

Result: 32B earned impressions (15.4B BEFORE the Super Bowl)

Goal: 50 articles

Result: 2K+ articles

Goal: Top 10 share of voice (based on earned engagement during game)

Result: #1 share of voice

Result: 2.4X amount of engagements of all other health and beauty brands in the Super Bowl… COMBINED!

Goal: Most talked about brand on social

Result: #1 most effective brand on tiktok (David), trended on X / Tiktok, Reddit front page, highest ever performing brand meme on FJerry

Result: 400+ organic influencers

Goal: +3% audience growth

Result: +5% audience growth (“Dammit it worked…I’ll go pick up a bottle” – @huhzonked)

The month-long “ultra-meta, multipronged campaign” (NYTimes) was hailed as a “masterclass” (Adweek).

The extraordinary success of our PR campaign was thanks to our innovative approach that actively engaged media partners and strategically pivoted when necessary. We overcame challenges of not having media access to Michael Cera, and needing to strategically sell a skincare conspiracy to outlets without ever lying.

By bringing media into the fold and inviting them to actively participate, it facilitated meaningful press coverage and allowed certain outlets to become a part of the story themselves. This level of involvement created a sense of ownership and investment among journalists, resulting in more authentic and compelling coverage that resonated deeply with audiences.

Our campaign enabled us to become a "cultural icon" (CeraVe's goal), and blow away campaign goals with 2K+ articles (goal: 50), 20.8B organic global PR impression (goal: 1B TOTAL). Our PR plan expanded the audience, achieving 5% growth (goal: 3%) from a diverse array of outlets and journalists.