A concealer sparks a love story between neighbors, but not even the quality of her makeup is able to hide the surprising secret she hides. Fortunately, love is blind and conquers everything in the Maybelline New York Christmas ad, created by the creative agency Maximum Effort.
The beauty brand innovates with a five-part microdrama performed by actors Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan, who starred in the Christmas movie “A Melting Snowman”, one of Netflix’s unexpected hits during the holidays last year.
It is made up of five 30-second episodes spun by the brand’s product.
Under the title “Maybe This Christmas,” the brand offers a story divided into five 30-second installments and united by both the love story and the Maybelline Instant Eraser, one of the brand’s star products. The story brings together all the clichés of Christmas movies and large doses of self-aware humor from Maybelline. However, what begins as a cozy love story quickly turns into a mystery about the identity of the protagonist.
The brand deploys a storytelling about love, illusion and what one chooses to hide, to end by offering a moral about authenticity and self-expression. Furthermore, the campaign integrates the concealer in an ironic, but at the same time organic, way into the plot as a nod to the exaggerated advertising that the industry often relies on. With this, Maybelline breaks the tone and format of traditional advertising to opt for a strategy based on content.
The five episodes are gathered in this video:
“By naturally incorporating the Instant Eraser Concealer into the microdrama series, we were able to enhance a product that has been a staple for our consumers in a fun and creative way.” commented Yasmin Dastmalchi, President of Maybelline United States, according to Ads of the world.This project reflects our continuous evolution as a brand, inspiring us in the joy and spirit of Christmas.”.
The microdrama will air on multiple platforms, including Peacock, where it will air during the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and on Hallmark, coinciding with the lineup of movies starring Lacey Chabert. It is also distributed on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.
