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. Leading up to CeraVe’s first ever Super Bowl commercial, we orchestrated a month-long global conspiracy. With 15.4B impressions BEFORE the spot even aired, it became one of (if not) the most hyped ads of all time. The commercial was declared the #1 Super Bowl ad (adweek, adage, Forbes), hailed as "Perfect" (TODAY), and yielded the highest moisturizer sales in CeraVe history.

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.

The Super Bowl commercial looks like a dreamy, self-serious 90s cologne ad. In the film, Cera opens by holding a tub of CeraVe and declaring: “I’m Michael Cera and this is my cream... oh, you didn't know?” Then we follow Cera in what appears to be a bizarre fever dream: he is massaging himself, climbing a mountain with moisturizer ("let my cream hydrate you!"), and hanging with male models in sleeveless dermatologist coats. Finally, it cuts to a board room revealing Michael is actually pitching this film to dermatologists. They unanimously reject him. In one final plea, Michael offers: “So my name is Cera… it’s a perfect crossover opportunity.” The end super reads: Developed with dermatologists. Not Michael Cera.

CeraVe is the #1 dermatologist-recommended skincare brand in the US. The brand has a niche audience on TikTok. But competitors were stealing CeraVe's core claims. So CeraVe was headed to its first ever Super Bowl to turn their cult following into a cultural phenomenon, and mint CeraVe as THE brand developed with Dermatologists.

But people watching the Super Bowl want celebrities and comedy. Not dermatologists and ceramides. So the objective was to elevate CeraVe to the status of cultural icon without compromising their core values. In doing so, CeraVe wanted to grow the audience to include Gen Z and men, while still appealing to our millennial female base consumer.

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).

‘Michael CeraVe’ was a month-long, fully immersive campaign that culminated with CeraVe’s first ever Super Bowl commercial. The commercial was hailed as "the best Super Bowl Commercial in years" (TODAY). It trended on X and TikTok and was unanimously hailed as the #1 SB campaign (Adweek / Adage / GQ / Forbes). Over the course of the campaign, CeraVe shattered it's goals and achieved it's objective to become a cultural icon:

Goal: 1B impressions

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

Goal: 50 articles

Result: 2K+ articles / 20.8B organic global PR impressions

Goal: +3% audience growth

Result: +5% audience growth

Social was flooded with people obsessed with campaign, vowing to become CeraVe-loyal customers:

– “Just ordered a bunch of CeraVe for first time” – @asietsocom

– “Dammit it worked…I’ll go pick up a bottle” – @huhzonked

– “The single best piece of advertising ever made” –@drewwademade1912