Skincare brand The Ordinary’s new digital site addresses mistruths of the beauty industry

Skincare brand The Ordinary, known for its provocative advertising, is launching a campaign it says reveals “the truth” about the beauty industry—with a series of white papers posted at thetruthshouldbeordinary.com that claim to decode the sometimes baffling science behind how beauty products are developed, and how they work. Developed with agency Uncommon Creative Studio, the site claims to unveil “striking truths” about the industry’s most misunderstood topics, including parabens, “natural” skincare, animal testing and more. The initiative is being promoted through black-and-white ads that each highlight one truth from the site—posted in print, outdoor and social. Each ad drives people to the website. The brand characterizes the effort as a kind of whistleblowing on the entire industry. Among the takeaways that the project reveals: that parabens are not dangerous; natural ingredients can be toxic; the aluminum in your deodorant isn’t harmful; and mineral and chemical sunscreens are essentially the same. The effort accompanies the brand’s GF 15% Solution launch. “The traditional route to launching a new product in the beauty industry—isn’t this,” said Nils Leonard, co-founder of Uncommon. “The Ordinary is different—launching a new product by taking down the firewalls of an industry. The creation of this open digital archive, a kind of Wikileaks for the industry, is the kind of work we built the studio for. A reference point brand and concept, this is just the start. We’re so excited for where this partnership can go.” More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

Skincare brand The Ordinary’s new digital site addresses mistruths of the beauty industry

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