MAC gets Martha Stewart, Julia Fox and other celebs to strip down for its nude makeup shades

When you think of “bold” makeup looks, nude shades such as beige or pale pink aren’t typically what spring to mind. Wearing those nude shades while in the nude, however, is certainly a bold fashion choice—and MAC Cosmetics recruited a star-studded group of talent to bring that double entendre to life in its latest campaign. For its “I Only Wear MAC” campaign, the brand tasked five celebrities—media mogul Martha Stewart; model and actress Julia Fox; reality TV star Tiffany Pollard; former NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.; and singer-songwriter Beabadoobee—with “stripping down” to nude shades of lipstick, eyeshadow and other products in MAC’s newly-released “Nudes Collection.” Fox, for example, undressed on the New York subway for a nude photoshoot, and Beckham bared his nude torso dotted with burgundy lipstick stains. A post shared by M·A·C Cosmetics (@maccosmetics) “There are two ways you can do nude [makeup shades]—there’s the demure, barely there, ‘no-makeup makeup’ look … and then there’s the MAC way of doing nude, which is sensual, bold and confident,” Emily Bromfield, MAC’s senior VP of global marketing, told Ad Age. The campaign was made in-house, and MAC’s team hand-picked celebrity partners who are embedded in internet culture and have “highly engaged audiences” online, she said. Each celebrity will also share a video on their social channels that aligns with the content that “made the internet love them,” said Drew Elliot, MAC’s global creative director. Stewart’s ASMR-style video revolves around her sensually eating fruit and honey before whispering “I only wear MAC” into the microphone, while Fox’s centers on her asking questions to a MAC-branded Magic 8 Ball while seated on a bench on a subway platform. To her final question to the Magic 8 Ball, “Do I only wear MAC?”, Fox provides her own answer—“Well, obviously.” The campaign aims to remind consumers that “MAC is a brand that can even turn nudes into something that turns everyone’s head [and] turns the internet upside down,” Elliott said. It’s part of the makeup brand’s new approach to influencer marketing that leans into “outspoken people” rather than just brand “spokespeople,” he added. In other words, MAC’s new influencer strategy is focused on going back to its roots of being “synonymous with celebrity” and pop culture, as it was in the 1990s and 2000s, and de-emphasizing its partnerships with beauty creators, Bromfield said. But MAC will “always continue to work with the beauty community,” she noted—particularly makeup artists, who are “incredibly important … explainers and educators” for MAC. Along with social content, the “I Only Wear MAC” campaign includes wild postings and a New York Fashion Week event at MAC’s flagship SoHo store. Some of the celebs from the campaign will make appearances at the event, Elliott said. “And MAC is famous for having events that have lines around the block,” he added. More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

MAC gets Martha Stewart, Julia Fox and other celebs to strip down for its nude makeup shades

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