Maybelline Hires Its First Avatar Ambassador To Show Off ‘Surreal’ Results
Image via Maybelline / PR Newswire
Maybe it’s Maybelline, but this time, it’s without a doubt May. That’s the name of the cosmetics brand’s latest celebrity ambassador. May is computer-generated, and she’s here to help the company merge the physical and virtual worlds.
For her debut as Maybelline’s first-ever digital avatar, May will be the star of its campaign for the new Falsies Surreal Extensions Mascara. It’s a pretty significant gig for a rookie, considering that May’s real-world counterpart who’s also promoting the product is Gigi Hadid.
Maybelline details that, with the mascara promising up to 36% visibly longer lashes, only a character as surreal as a digital being “can bring it to life.”
“When a mascara delivers a transformation as surreal as this, it takes something just as surreal to introduce it. That’s where May comes in,” explains Shivani Shah, SVP of Global Brand Experience at Maybelline New York. “We’re thrilled to grow our Falsies portfolio with the help of our first avatar, who brings to life the product’s surreal lash extension look and next-gen technology in a fun and unexpected way.”
Virtual avatars have permeated the influencer space of late, and it’s fairly easy to see why. Not only can they be constructed to perfectly match a brand’s ideals, but they’re also oftentimes easier on the wallet. In addition, it doesn’t hurt that they’re drama-free and don’t carry any baggage.
May’s clean-cut image would be a particular draw for Maybelline, whose parent company L’Oréal was recently entangled in a messy brand deal with beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira. The TikTok star was accused of applying mascara over false lashes to give off the effect of dramatically long eyelashes, a claim that Nogueira has vehemently denied.
As noted by Marketing Dive, Maybelline is seemingly giving a positive spin to the so-called ‘LashGate’ with the virtual model and her “surreal extensions”-like lashes. “It will have people asking, ‘are your lashes real?!’” the makeup brand teases in a press release.
Beyond this campaign, May is also poised to star in future activations, including those by L’Oréal’s other brands, as well as promote virtual products and services and appear in metaverse-related efforts.
[via Marketing Dive and Beauty Packaging, cover image via Maybelline / PR Newswire]
