• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

While “Elle,” Amazon Prime's long-awaited series prequel to Reese Witherspoon’s 2001 classic film “Legally Blonde,” isn’t getting much love from TV critics, some brands can’t look away. Dove just announced it is bringing its Dove Pink Beauty Bar back with an in-show integration, along with co-branded content, creator collaborations and experiential marketing. Victoria’s Secret’s Pink announced a new Elle Woods-inspired collection that includes PJs, panties, denim and T-shirts. (Bruiser in a tutu, anyone? Or “Running on dreams and lip gloss,” rendered in sequins?) Of course, it includes that iconic sparkly-pink bikini.

And last month, L'Oréal Paris announced that viewers can expect to see plenty of its products “woven into the fabric of the series itself, alongside a sweeping multi-touchpoint campaign.”

The eight-episode series premiered on Amazon July 1. And while some critics are finding the premise stretching all plausibility -- not to mention the laws of prequel-dom -- Amazon already announced plans for a second season back in January.

Here’s the setup: We meet Elle Woods in 1995, long before she lands at Harvard Law School, as a high school student who has been unceremoniously plucked from her glamorous Bel Air environs and dropped into Seattle, the grunge capital of the world.

Dove fits in because Elle comforts herself with everyday beauty routines, including the bar soap’s product placement in the third episode of the series. Sharp-eyed viewers will also catch a glimpse of a ’90s-era Dove magazine ad as she reads by the pool.

"Dove and Elle Woods are both icons that have shaped how we think about beauty and confidence for decades," said Kathryn Fernandez, head of Dove’s U.S.  masterbrand and skin cleansing division, in the announcement. "This collaboration brings those legacies together, honoring the self-expression and joy of ‘90s beauty culture in a way that feels fresh and relevant today."

L'Oréal Paris, early out of the gate with the partnership announcement early last month, is relying on a marketing campaign that follows social media’s popular “Get ready with me” format and focuses on the products that ruled the day back in the ‘90s and are still top sellers: Voluminous Mascara, Colour Riche Lipstick, and True Match Foundation.

L'Oréal worked with Maximum Effort, and the campaign includes social, consumer pop-ups, and events.

"There is a natural, undeniable synergy with this collaboration,” said Laura Branik, president of L'Oréal Paris USA, in the announcement. “Long before she conquered Harvard, young Elle Woods possessed that fierce, tenacious 'worth it' spirit—a flat-out refusal to let others define her boundaries. By weaving our iconic heritage products directly into her origin story, we are celebrating a character who uses beauty as a tool of self-expression.”

Both L’Oreal and Dove also made their presence felt at the recent "Elle World" experience in New York, which featured a “Bend & Snap” drag showcase, as well as personalized Confidence Kits filled with Dove beauty products.

It’s still not clear whether viewers will love “Elle” as much as brands seem to. Reviews are mixed. The New York Post pronounced it “shockingly not bad.”

“Cute enough,” said the Hollywood Reporter, “but makes no sense as a 'Legally Blonde’ prequel.”

Others turned thumbs down. “It does not work,” writes the Guardian. “The camp effervescence on which much of the success of the film depended quickly dissipates. The new aesthetic – the screen fills with sludgy browns, greys and camo-plaid combos over band T-shirts – is depressing.”

The new characters are “bland at best and, at worst, so humourlessly proto-woke that you begin to hate some of them on sight.”

So far, “Elle” has earned just a 55% score from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.