by In a world of serious beauty campaigns with models or celebrities marketing makeup, this CeraVe campaign with Michael Cera came out of left field. Those conventional beauty campaigns have been the standard, because who wouldn’t want the hair in a Pantene ad or the full coverage of a CoverGirl? But with TikTok dominating social media, conventional standards aren’t succeeding like they used to. Audiences are now more engaged with ‘authentic’ content, rough cuts and unpolished content. This seems like it goes against everything marketing campaigns and those creating the media, ever learned professionally. That’s why adapting to this new way of optimizing the algorithm to reach today’s consumers is so important.
CeraVe did just that. By bringing a weird, awkward and quirky celebrity to their campaign, they got beyond the white noise of traditional beauty marketing campaigns. The campaign is so unhinged, yet so carefully curated that it now seems like the obvious choice all along for a brand like CeraVe. Rumors of this campaign first started when a TikToker spotted Cera out in stores signing his name “Michael” next to the CeraVe on bottles in stores. Then paparazzi caught him carrying bags of signed CeraVe bottles and handing them out to passersby. After that, he did a podcast where he claimed CeraVe’s name was after him, and not the ceramides in CeraVe’s formula. This campaign also included a popular house tour TikToker on the set of the ‘Cera’ movie to show him around the set, and while looking at the trailer full of CeraVe products, they caught Cera handing out the products. Cera was also featured in a video with a popular dermatologist on TikTok, interviewing him about skincare since Cera claimed he was an expert – newsflash, Cera is most definitely not a skincare expert, but he’s great at improvising!
CeraVe, a skincare company that prides itself in being developed by dermatologists, has had an unexpected response to the buzz surrounding its campaign. They’re denying they’re association with Cera, going even further with this bit to make it seem like Cera is the crazy one. However, the president of the advertising agency responsible for this campaign confirmed to the New York Times that they were behind Cera’s actions the whole time, even after they had their PR representatives denying it.
This campaign is coming to a head with the Super Bowl this Sunday, February 8th, as the advertisement is speculated to air during the big game. CerVe and Cera’s partnership will mark the trend beauty brands are hoping on of having celebrities marketing their products in weird ways, just like Jennifer Coolidge did during the 2023 Super Bowl with her E.L.F. commercial. Understanding your audience is what made the E.L.F.’s and CeraVe’s campaigns such a success.
Hi Elizabeth!
I loved the ads and all the pr Micheal is doing for CeraVe. I thought it was funny, quirky, and way different from your regular skincare advertisement. I agree that it was a very authentic feeling, breaking the norms of a glorified and thought-out ad.
Hi Elizabeth! I think the unique collab between Michael Cera and Cera Ve was genius. I feel like skincare and wanting to have good skin is sometimes and Awkard thing for people. I think because Michael Cera is quirky and unique, showing he too needs his skincare is the perfect collab. Kudos to Cera Ve for thinking of this, because it was weird, it got the best kind of attention. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Elizabeth, I loved this ad during the Super Bowl. I agree that it felt so random but I think that was the genius behind the campaign. Having a lesser know celebrity, and someone not normally associated with skincare as the frontman for this ad campaign showed people that beauty standards and campaigns featuring models aren’t the only way to make beauty ads.