“Maybe ze’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline.”
Well, that’s not the way you remember the advertising tag line, but it’s 2023, Baby. One MUST be inclusive, yes? Maybelline has been using men in makeup in ads for several years now. Not only that, but I am old enough to remember the 1980’s when men wore makeup (Boy George, Adam Ant, Prince). Those men came off as best friend types and non-threatening. It all felt a little low-testosterone.
Maybe it’s toxic masculinity.
This new Amazon Prime Day-Maybelline ad by influencer Ryan Vita should remind us of those androgynous men-boys of the 80’s, but it doesn’t. It feels threatening and violent. On my second watch, I figured out why. It’s not the bald man with a tarted up beard and makeup. Although that’s not my cuppa. It’s the shiv-like nails, knocking the bottles together and shaking the bottle violently for 3 full seconds. Watch this:
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