L’Oréal: Kiehl’s × Zoolander 2

The Derek Zoolander Center for People Who Don’t Age Good

165 years of skincare science, one really, really, really good-looking spokesman, zero dollars of paid media.

In-house — Head of Global Social Marketing, 2016

The brief

Global awareness. No paid media.

The brief was global brand awareness for Kiehl’s, with nothing behind it — every impression would have to be earned.

And the brand had a second problem money couldn’t fix anyway: Kiehl’s is serious skincare, 165 years of apothecary science, in a category where aging is an anxious, loaded topic.

A brand that only ever talks like a chemist can’t reach people who cope with aging the way most people actually do, which is by laughing about it.

Zoolander 2 was coming. The partnership had vast reach, perfect brand alignment, and one requirement: total commitment to the bit.

The idea

Make aging wish it had never been born.

A graphic with four sections promoting youthful appearance. The top left has bold text saying, 'Youth is 1% inspiration and 99% not being old,' with a purple background. The top right features a man in a white lab coat with a serious expression, and a cartoon figure with a green shirt and blue pants showing an 'anti-age' badge. The bottom left shows a diagram explaining 'oligoclar pigmentitis,' with labels for follicle and pigment, and a pink pig illustration. The bottom right displays a message claiming that people affected by aging are not good, showing a large number: 7,300,596,025, with a yellow background and black striped borders.

The move

The Derek Zoolander Center For People Who Don’t Age Good

Combine Kiehl’s 165 years of scientific knowledge with the single greatest mind in the universe. The Center ran as pop-up experience, digital activations, and celebrity testimonials — a fully committed bit, played completely straight.