The Challenge

To become a cultural icon, CeraVe sought to expand its audience by using the Super Bowl to gain mass appeal, while still appealing to their base consumer; however, while the Super Bowl is not traditionally a fit for beauty brands due to its male-dominated viewership, research and social listening proved that more men were investing in their skincare.

The Solution

Through intricately curated comms, influencer and social execution, we created a fully immersive story about how Michael Cera claimed he was the mastermind behind the brand, all of which was revealed as a master prank when the brand aired its first-ever Super Bowl TV commercial on February 11, 2024. The multiplatform campaign was activated over a 4-week period of seeding Cera’s claims, allowing CeraVe to make a rebuttal, and ultimately revealing the prank on TV’s biggest night.

The Result

The “ultra-meta, prolonged marketing campaign” (New York Times) was hailed as “Perfect” (TODAY) and as a “masterclass” (Adweek). With 32B earned impressions, 195M+ influencer video views and 5.5M+ influencer engagements, CeraVe achieved its goal of becoming iconic – all resulting in historic sales and the biggest growth results in the brand’s 18-year history.