E.l.f. Cosmetics has come under heavy scrutiny for their decision to feature comedian Matt Rife in their latest advertising campaign.
The campaign features Matt Rife as “Schmarnes” and RuPaul’s Drag Race star, Heidi N Closet as “E.l.f.ino”, a fictional legal defence duo denouncing high-priced beauty products.
The skit mimics an infamous and much parodied advertisement run by Buffalo, New York law firm Cellino & Barnes.
In recent times, the beauty brand has celebrated success taking on gender inequality in corporate spaces with its “So many dicks” campaign, sending beauty products into space with Astronaut Amanda Nguyen, and the E.l.f. roast “SUNHINGED”, a comedy special featuring comedians roasting the sun to encourage SPF products.
But this week’s campaign, launched on Monday, sparked backlash with audiences on social media almost immediately after being posted to the company’s platforms. Viewers were quick to remark on Matt Rife partnering with the brand, given jokes made in Matt Rife’s 2024 Netflix special on domestic violence. Audiences questioned why a brand committed to uplifting women and girls would collaborate with someone whose most viral notoriety is for making light of domestic violence against women.
E.l.f. Beauty’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, Kory Marchisotto, told The Business of Beauty that Matt Rife was picked specifically because of his popularity in the brand’s target female Gen-Z audience. According to Marchisotto, his TikTok fanbase is 80 per cent female, and 75 per cent under the age of 34, which was “right in the sweet spot.”
While fans of Matt Rife’s social media pages praised the collaboration and artistic vision, responses to the campaign on the E.l.f. social media pages painted a far more sceptical story, with some users even calling for a boycott of the brand.
One user, @madalina.vin, asked, “You didn’t have the budget for a comedian who doesn’t joke about abuse?”
While the @thevivirose said “Oooooh. Matt Rife? The guy who jokes about DV? In an ad targeted to women? That’s, um. A choice.”
Many videos have shown people throwing their E.l.f products in the bin in response to the ad, while others have openly said they will be boycotting the brand altogether.
Marchisotto said they were “very surprised” by the backlash, adding, “There is a big gap between our intention and how this missed the mark for some people … we always aim to deliver positivity, and this one didn’t. So we find ourselves in a position where, quite honestly, that doesn’t feel good for us.”
On moving forward, Marchisotto continued: “All of the signals tell us to keep being humorous, to keep pushing the envelope, to keep leaning into entertainment … that’s what our community loves.”
On Wednesday, the brand posted a public statement:
“You know us, we’re always listening, and we’ve heard you. This campaign aimed to humorously spotlight beauty injustice. We understand we missed the mark with people we care about in our e.l.f. community. While E.l.f.ino & Schmarnes closes today, we’ll continue to make the case against overpriced beauty.”
Despite the statement, E.l.f. Cosmetics audiences were slow to forgive and forget.
Users claimed the statement did not amount to an apology and demanded that the brand delete the campaign. Others suggested the beauty brand donate to organisations that offer support to survivors of domestic abuse. A number of users called for a boycott of E.l.f. Cosmetics until such action had taken place.
Currently, the campaign remains live across the company’s digital platforms.
