• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, September 28, 2023

Jennifer Coolidge is at it again, putting the funny back in the E.L.F. Cosmetic brand. The new campaign supports a limited-edition set of lip products called the E.L.F. x Jennifer Coolidge Dirty Pillows Lip Kit. The company says it’s the next step in its mass-beauty domination.

Earlier this year, Coolidge appeared in an ad for E.L.F.'s sticky primer, which aired regionally during the Super Bowl. The comic bit, which had the actor speaking dolphin and sticking to every surface she touched, emerged as one of the most memorable of the game. It caused sales of the primer to skyrocket.

The Oakland, California-based company says the idea for the product and campaign came from Coolidge herself. During the Super Bowl shoot, she was asked what she would name a lipstick line if given the chance. “Dirty Pillows,” she responded.

The spot shows the “White Lotus” actor having a sexy dream and then talking about marshmallows with her unsuspecting spouse.

Shadow, the company’s ad agency, created the effort.

“By taking an unscripted moment and transforming it into a premium lip collection at E.L.F. speed, we go beyond beauty to entertain our community, setting a new standard for brands in today's dynamic beauty landscape,” said Kory Marchisotto, E.L.F.’s chief marketing officer, in the announcement.

For any other company, that might sound like so much hype. But E.L.F. continues to barrel past much larger competitors, making it a darling of the investment community. It’s also the reigning champ of Gen Z’s beauty bag, named as a constant favorite for its low-cost, vegan and cruelty-free products. Fans love it for its “dupe” thinking, quickly developing knock-offs of products from more expensive brands.

UBS, which just began covering E.L.F. and recommends the company as a buy, believes the beauty company can continue its long streak of double-digit sales gains. With its focus on skincare, including the recent purchase of Naturium, the company can achieve organic sales growth of 47% in the coming fiscal year and 20% in fiscal ‘25, according to analyst Peter Grom.

He says those gains will likely be powered by its ongoing innovation, a focus on skincare (now about 18% of sales) and a growing distribution channel. While the brand launched in 2004 as a direct-to-consumer company, Grom writes that ecommerce now accounts for just 12% of sales. Purchases of E.L.F. products in Walmart, Ulta and Target now account for 60% of revenues.

“E.L.F. will benefit from continued share gains in the core mass color cosmetics category, which will continue to grow in the low single-digit range,” Grom adds, as well as a “greater emphasis on increasing exposure to the skin care category through organic expansion, and an underappreciated international expansion.”