


Maybelline, the world’s biggest cosmetic brand, is facing a deluge of boycott calls over its marketing partnership with a bearded makeup artist who was featured in an ad trying on lipstick.
The advertisement, which was posted on Maybelline’s Instagram account on July 12 to coincide with Amazon Prime Day, shows social media influencer Ryan Vita promoting the brand’s makeup.
Sporting a bald head, bushy beard, and long fingernails, Mr. Vita applies bright pink lipstick, before pouting, blowing kisses, and talking up the product’s attributes.
The ad, which identifies Mr. Vita as a Maybelline partner, sparked a series of almost universally critical comments on Instagram, with one user writing that “this is unacceptable and very disturbing,” and another saying that the ad should come with a warning.
“Maybe it’ mental illness, maybe it’s Maybelline,” another user quipped, playing off the famous Maybelline slogan, “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline.”
“Adding Maybelline to the growing list of companies I won’t buy from anymore,” another user commented, adding to a growing torrent of calls to boycott the brand over its partnership with Mr. Vita, who has around 1.2 million followers on TikTok.
The clip was posted on Twitter, where it sparked an intense torrent of critical takes, including many calling for a boycott.
Lauren Chen, host of the conservative network BlazeTV, shared the video, with the caption, “Another day, another disturbing make-up ad.”
The post garnered a number of comments, including some making reference to the “go woke, go broke” slogan that has become a hallmark of boycott calls by conservatives opposed to corporations pushing what they see as extreme leftist agendas, including transgenderism.
“Maybelline, another ‘Go Woke & Go Broke’ company to add to the ‘Not to sponsor list’! Women, they are taking your place and you are letting them do it!,” a Twitter user wrote in a comment.
A spokesperson for Maybelline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is not the first time Maybelline has used men to market its makeup products, with the brand using Manny Guitierrez in an ad campaign for mascara in 2017.
However, Maybelline’s latest partnership with a makeup-wearing man comes amid a broader backlash to companies appearing to push transgenderism after Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman.
Mr. Mulvaney was also featured in a Maybelline ad applying the company’s products in a TikTok video posted in March and later shared by Maybelline on its Instagram account, a move that also triggered calls for a boycott.
The latest industry figures show that Bud Light’s sales slump deepened into July as the fallout from the brand’s engagement with Mr. Mulvaney continues to strain the brand’s bottom line.
Sales volumes of Bud Light plunged by 23.6 percent in the week ended on July 8, according to Nielsen IQ sales data via Bump Williams Consulting.
By contrast, sales of Coors Light increased by 30.2 percent, Miller Lite jumped 25.2 percent, and Modelo Especial was up 20.7 percent, the data showed.
The latest data shows a deepening sales slump that was triggered when the brand rolled out a personalized beer can featuring the face of Mr. Mulvaney.
“This month I celebrated my day 365 of womanhood and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever—a can with my face on it,” Mr. Mulvaney said on April Fool’s Day.
Mr. Mulvaney, who has over 10 million followers on TikTok, posted a series of videos plugging Bud Light and showing off the personalized can.
Mr. Mulvaney’s engagement with Bud Light sparked outrage among many conservatives, some of whom accused the brand of promoting a transgender agenda and called for a boycott.
A number of prominent conservative figures have called for a boycott over Mr. Mulvaney’s marketing engagement with Bud Light.
Singer Kid Rock used Bud Light cans as target practice to express his anger at the promotional campaign, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would be boycotting Bud Light.
Former President Donald Trump also weighed in on the controversy, suggesting boycotts can be an effective way to send a message to brands that critics say are pushing a leftist agenda.
“It’s time to beat the Radical Left at their own game,” Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social earlier in May. “Money does talk—Anheuser-Busch now understands that.”
The market value of Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch InBev has sunk from around $132.4 billion on April 1, the day Mr. Mulvaney trumpeted the personalized can on social media, to around $114.3 billion on July 17.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris told the Financial Times in an earlier interview that the boycott was driven by “misinformation and confusion” circulating on social media.
Mr. Doukeris insisted that Mr. Mulvaney’s involvement wasn’t part of an official Bud Light marketing campaign.
“It was one post. It was not an advertisement,” Mr. Doukeris told the outlet.