Maybelline Receives Backlash After Using Bearded Influencer to Sell Lipstick

The cosmetic brand Maybelline received backlash after featuring a bearded influencer in its lipstick ad. In an advertisement for Amazon Prime Day, Maybelline posted a reel on its Instagram page featuring beauty…

Rebecca GuzelJul 14, 20232 min read

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of trying to “alienate” its “target audience.”

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“You had better hope that there are a lot of lipstick wearing, bearded men out there to make up the sales that you have just lost,” the user added.

“Disturbing video worst way of marketing,” another user wrote.

Another user inquired whether Maybelline thought anyone would want to buy its lipsticks after seeing the ad.

“I love Maybelline (sic) but can’t handle this. I got scared even by seeing this!” the user wrote, asking them to “please stop.”

This came after Maybelline received backlash for its partnership with transgender influencer, Dylan mulvaney in March.

“What a privilege to dress up as a girl and not have ever dealt with the issues biological females deal with. You’re not a woman. Face it,” one user wrote under Mulvaney’s post.

Another user commented, “Is it really necessary to constantly reduce women to cultural stereotypes and caricatures? Please do better…”

Another user asserted, “Womanhood is not a costume you can put on,” but prefaced she doesn’t “hate” Mulvaney.

“Dylan seems like a bubbly and sweet person. But Dylan is not a woman, and dressing up in pink clothes and acting like an offensive stereotype caricature of a woman doesn’t make him one,” the user continued.

Furthermore, the user stated they “hope he gets the help he needs.”

“Having the world support his delusions and cater to them isn’t doing him any good. This is a mental health crisis, not a showing of ‘bravery,'” they added.