• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 21, 2024

It’s not every day that a consumer brands company has sustainability results impressive enough to be billboard-worthy. But E.L.F. Beauty says its latest impact report is so remarkable it’s shouting it out in a corporate ad campaign, in 280-foot ads that include 22 LED screens in The World Trade Center retail complex. It’s also using a two-page spread in The New York Times and sharing the news throughout the company’s extensive social-media ecosystem.

Themed “Dupe That!,” the ads delve into findings from its 2024 Impact Report, including patting itself on the back for being the most diverse publicly held company, with a board that is 78% women and 44% diverse. It also donated 2% of all profits -- $1.2 million in 2024 -- to drive community impact, excluded more than 2,500 ingredients from its products, and made significant gains in reducing packaging and incorporating recycled plastics into its manufacturing.

It has also shared over $180 million in equity (excluding the executive team) with more than 500 employees. And E.L.F. has earned double cruelty-free certification, from both PETA and the Leaping Bunny Program.

The Oakland, California-based company has been a high flier in the public markets by turning its “dupe” strategy (aiming to duplicate  products from more expensive brands)  into stratospheric sales success.

“The more we unapologetically lean into our purpose, the stronger the signals to keep using our megaphone to help make the world an increasingly brighter place for every eye, lip and face,” Kory Marchisotto, the company’s chief marketing officer, said in the announcement. “At E.L.F.’s core is democratizing access – to the best of beauty, to wealth creation, to level playing fields in sports and business, to wellness, to a better planet and, perhaps most importantly, to doing it all with kindness.”

Madwell is the agency.

This isn’t the first time E.L.F. has channeled its cheeky consumer tone of voice for the usually dry world of investor-aimed advertising.  The company’s “Change the Board Game” initiative debuted last spring, using tennis legend Billie Jean King to lob facts about the benefits of diverse corporate boards. Many of the ads for that campaign drew from the company’s research on the makeup of boards, leading to headlines like, “So many Dicks. So few of anyone else.”

E.L.F.’s sales soared 50% in the most recent quarterly results, and for the full fiscal year, it increased its forecast and now expects sales to reach between $1.28 billion and $1.3 billion.