Inside e.l.f. Beauty’s Super Bowl campaign—why it’s opting for social and streaming over a Big Game ad

After airing its first national Super Bowl commercial last year, e.l.f. Beauty is pivoting its Big Game marketing strategy to social media with a star-studded livestream event running parallel to the Super Bowl. The stream, called “The E.l.f. Time Show,” will feature a trio of hosts—sportscaster Suzy Shuster, actress and comedian Yvonne Orji and drag queen Heidi N Closet, who also appeared in e.l.f.’s “Judge Beauty” Super Bowl ad last year—offering a mix of sports commentary and comedy, e.l.f. Chief Brand Officer Laurie Lam told Ad Age. E.l.f. will be broadcasting the stream across its TikTok, Twitch, Instagram and YouTube channels throughout the game, as well as on Amazon Live and e.l.f.’s website, she said. “When we approached the Super Bowl, we said, ‘Well, there’s a traditional way—you can, of course, buy an ad,’ and in 2023 … we showed everybody that beauty belongs in the Big Game,” Lam said, referring to e.l.f.’s regional TV spot starring actress Jennifer Coolidge during Super Bowl LVII. “We opened the door for beauty brands to enter in 2024 and follow [us], and last year … we delivered a verdict at the Big Game, and said that it’s almost a crime to overpay for makeup. So, this year, we decided to disrupt what we’ve done already and come in with a never-been-done-before approach to the Big Game.” NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today Indeed, beauty brands played an unprecedented role in Super Bowl advertising last year as brands such as e.l.f., CeraVe and NYX Professional Makeup capitalized on surging female viewership during the 2023-2024 NFL season with Big Game ads and regional buys. Neither e.l.f. nor CeraVe, which both ran national Super Bowl commercials last year, is returning to the broadcast this year. NYX, too, opted for a social media push with its “Big Fat Kiss” campaign, which involves the first partnership between DraftKings and a makeup brand, rather than airing another regional spot this year. While beauty brands are largely absent from the Super Bowl this year, skincare brand eos will be airing its first regional Super Bowl ad across nine markets. Cetaphil is running an ad during the game exclusively in New Orleans, the host city of the Super Bowl. Lam pointed to the fact that 70% of Super Bowl viewers use an average of two or more media platforms during the Big Game (according to Adtaxi’s 2025 Super Bowl Survey) as a key motivator in e.l.f.’s decision to focus its Super Bowl efforts on a livestream that brand fans can tune into periodically during lulls in the Big Game. “Our CMO [Kory Marchisotto] likes to say that sometimes it’s less of an attention game and more about creating deep, meaningful impact with your community,” Lam said. “We’re throwing [The E.l.f. Time Show] for our community and with our community, in part to give them another type of experience during the Big Game. Wherever our fan base is, wherever our community members are, we’re going to meet them on that platform and give them that.” The stream will be sprinkled with product giveaways and interactions between the three hosts and viewers sending in messages through the live chat as part of e.l.f.’s goal of “fostering a two-way dialogue during one of these important cultural moments,” she said. E.l.f. has frequently engaged with its community on livestreams, particularly on TikTok, over the past year, but those have largely been product-focused and tied to the brand’s TikTok Shop, she said. “The E.l.f. Time Show” will also be the brand’s longest livestream to date, she added. The brand is also airing a 30-second spot from its “e.l.f. von zehn” campaign, produced by 72andSunny Amsterdam for e.l.f.’s recent launch in Germany, on Fox-owned streaming platform Tubi. Tinuiti handled the media buying involved in the campaign. The star of that commercial, e.l.f.’s eccentric German “Chief Science Officer” Klaus (played by actor Christopher Kouros), will also pop up in several “commercial breaks” throughout “The E.l.f. Time Show” that revolve around him exploring New Orleans and rating his new experiences, such as attending a tailgate and sampling a beignet. Those videos, over a dozen in all, were also produced by 72andSunny Amsterdam, Lam said. E.l.f. will also be the first to sponsor The Tubi Red Carpet Shop, a digital storefront platform Tubi unveiled earlier this week, according to the brand. Viewers watching the Super Bowl on Tubi will be able to shop for e.l.f. products without leaving the streaming platform, e.l.f. said. On top of that, e.l.f. is also the official cosmetics partner of Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl XXI, during which the brand is airing another commercial—its “eyes.lips.face.fandom” ad starring Joey King. Follow us on social media X Bluesky Instagram LinkedIn YouTube

Inside e.l.f. Beauty’s Super Bowl campaign—why it’s opting for social and streaming over a Big Game ad

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