Ill-received marketing has been all the rage. e.l.f. Cosmetics found itself in the hot seat after releasing an ad featuring controversial comedian Matt Rife. The “Law Offices of e.l.f.ino & Schmarnes ad” is a parody of those old-school late-night personal injury attorney commercials. Rife starred alongside drag queen/RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Heidi N Closet, and the two play partner attorneys protecting beauty consumers from overpriced products.
Matt Rife, makeup and misogyny
The issue? Well beyond the fact that e.l.f. recently announced a $1 price increase on most of its products, Rife also thinks domestic violence against women is funny. Being in cahoots with someone who makes jokes at the expense of women’s safety isn’t great for any company, but especially a brand that relies heavily on women to buy their products.
So, what did Rife do to earn all of this bad press? In his Netflix comedy special Natural Selection, Rife opens with a joke about domestic violence. The joke postures that a waitress with a black eye wouldn’t be in that situation if she knew how to cook. Which, beyond being misogynistic, was also wholly uninspired. Dated and patriarchal is a crazy combo. He claimed he was just “testing the waters,” to see if the rest of the show would be “fun or not.”
And if hearing a white man joke about something he is statistically less likely to experience compared to women and minorities wasn’t enough, it’s also worth noting that Rife’s audience, prior to this, was primarily women. Some speculate that he began to resent his female fan base for undermining his credibility as a “serious” comedian, and his behavior makes that quite hard to argue.
Determined to leave no marginalized community untouched, Rife doubled down on his joke with an Instagram post directing anyone offended by his jokes to a link that led them to a website for special needs helmets. Real class act. So, this guy has established beef with women, seems to resent their support, and thinks he is above criticism.
Why would e.l.f. want to collaborate with them? Well, we don’t really know. And unfortunately for e.l.f. , this happened shortly after Sydney Sweeney‘s “Good Jeans” American Eagle controversy.
The new era of outrage marketing
This timing has led many people to assume that e.l.f.’s ad was an intentional form of outrage marketing designed to drive traction and possibly increase shareholder value. On the whole, though, outrage marketing occupies a very odd place in the current cultural landscape. Who does it serve? Yes, these stunts might drive more traffic to your site, but not because people are interested in your products. It’s because they’re enraged and likely want to revoke their support.
Since the backlash, e.l.f. has apologized for its ad â soft of. In a statement to The Business of Fashion, e.l.f.’s chief marketing officer Kory Marchisotto said there “is a big gap between our intention and how this missed the mark for some people. We always aim to deliver positivity, and this one didn’t. So we find ourselves in a position where, quite honestly, that doesn’t feel good for us.”
Now, beauty fans don’t seem too enthused with this response since the damage is already done and the ad is still up. And to top everything off, Rife also shared his support for Sweeney’s American Eagle ad. At least they have each other?
