L’ORÉAL · KIEHL’S x ZOOLANDER 2

How far can serious skincare go on a joke?

With no paid media budget, Kiehl’s needed an idea entertainment media would carry for it. The answer paired 165 years of apothecary authority with a man spectacularly unqualified to explain aging.

THE PROBLEM

Global awareness with $0 paid media — every impression had to be earned.

THE MOVE

The Derek Zoolander Center for People Who Don’t Age Good: serious skincare, delivered with a straight face.

THE RECEIPT

$6.5M in earned media value, 900M+ impressions, still $0 paid.

ROLE

Head of Global Social Marketing · In-house · L’Oréal / Kiehl’s Since 1851 Global

REMIT

Global integrated strategy · Creative development · Global AOR oversight

DIRECT CONTRIBUTION

Global social and 360º activation leadership and creative agency oversight, including: · Earned media · Brand Partnership · Experiential · Social · Influencer & Celebrity

THE BRIEF

Global awareness. $0 paid media.

Every impression had to be earned. Kiehl’s brought 165 years of serious skincare expertise; the partnership needed to turn that authority into something people would choose to talk about.

THE SPARK

A brand that only ever talks like a chemist can’t reach people who cope with aging the way many people actually do

…which is by laughing about it.

THE CONNECTION

Zoolander 2 arrived with vast cultural reach and a story built around Derek’s struggle with aging. That made the joke strategically useful: Kiehl’s could enter the conversation through a character already famous for taking appearance far too seriously.

Let the least serious man in beauty carry the serious science.

THE WAY IN

Make aging wish it had never been born.

The Derek Zoolander Center for People Who Don’t Age Good treated absurdity with complete sincerity. The brand’s expertise stayed intact; the entertainment gave it a reason to travel.

THE ACTIVATION

Build a real place for an entirely ridiculous promise.

The Center opened as a New York pop-up with a patented 6.5-step “youthification” program, then extended through digital and in-store communications, celebrity testimonials, social content, and limited-edition product. Each piece committed to the same straight-faced world.