You’ve been served—an ad: e.l.f. Cosmetics amplifies a courtroom-inspired Big Game spot

A shocking crime that has stirred national outrage is going to trial. The defendant—a stylish, well-groomed corporate attorney—must plead her case to a packed courtroom that includes some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. And if that weren’t dramatic enough, every moment of the proceedings is reported on live, for all the world to follow.

The allegation at the center of the high-profile trial? Embezzlement.

For what? Overpriced foundation.

Fortunately, the sentence that ultimately gets handed down is fitting of the crime: $14 Glowy Skin, courtesy of e.l.f.’s Halo Glow Liquid Filter.

This satirical setup was the premise of e.l.f. Cosmetics’ “It’s a crime to overpay” campaign, launched in conjunction with the 2024 Big Game. Building off of the brand’s high-profile Big Game commercial, e.l.f. worked with Amazon Ads to develop a creative, full-funnel activation that leveraged a variety of customer touchpoints—including Prime Video, which, in a fortuitous twist, began introducing ads the same week that the campaign kicked off.

“The timing was serendipitous,” said Ekta Chopra, Chief Digital Officer of e.l.f. Beauty.

After the brand’s first Big Game campaign in 2023 came together in less than three-weeks, e.l.f. aimed to top their efforts for year two.

“Through our research, we learned that 50% of Big Game viewers identify as women, and we saw an opportunity to connect with that community to help them feel seen and represented,” Chopra explained. “It all ties back to our mission as a brand. At e.l.f., we stand for every eye, lip, and face—and our values are centered around doing the right thing. We align on moments that we know are important to our community, help give visibility to the underrepresented, and make a positive difference.”

So, in 2023, e.l.f. took the plunge and released their debut Big Game commercial—a 30-second spot starring The White Lotus actor Jennifer Coolidge that featured their ultra-sticky Power Grip Primer.

“The results exceeded all expectations,” said Chopra. “With that activation, e.l.f.’s Power Grip Primer became the number one primer on Amazon. So, for 2024, we set the stage to go bigger and better.”

For their year-two Big Game commercial, e.l.f. decided to do their own take on a genre that is particularly popular among Gen Z audiences (who represent a key audience for the brand): courtroom television. Explained Chopra, “Our creative vision was to create a campy and engaging ad that tapped into the cultural zeitgeist of courtroom TV shows. We did this by blending several motifs from the legal entertainment world, including starring appearances by Judy Sheindlin of Judge Judy (one of the world’s most recognizable judge personalities) and Suits actors Rick Hoffman, Gina Torres, and Sarah Rafferty.”

Other notable cast members included musical artist Meghan Trainor; drag queen performer and reality show contestant Heidi N Closet; comedian Benito Skinner; TV host and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho; and Ronald Gladden, star of the Emmy-nominated Freevee comedy series Jury Duty.

But e.l.f. didn’t stop there. Rather than limit themselves to a celebrity-studded, 30-second commercial that would only air once, they chose to develop an integrated marketing push encompassing a full-funnel campaign across digital channels. For this effort, they identified Amazon Ads as their ideal collaborator.

“I don’t think that any other retailer or marketplace has a canvas as broad and diverse as Amazon, whose customer touchpoints extend from online shopping to physical stores to music to TV and film to live sports, livestreaming, and beyond,” said Chopra.

Together, e.l.f. and Amazon Ads worked to develop a campaign concept that built off the theme of the Big Game spot (“It’s a crime to overpay”)—enabling the beauty brand to highlight two of their key brand differentiators: premium quality and accessible prices. Specifically, e.l.f. participated in a custom, first-of-its-kind Freevee sponsorship that brought courtroom-inspired TV shows to all Freevee viewers (including the Emmy Award-winning Freevee reality series Judy Justice) free of charge, with limited commercial interruption. They also took advantage of Prime Video’s new ad offering to engage relevant audiences alongside premium entertainment content. And finally, the teams redesigned e.l.f.’s Amazon Store to feature creative from their widely watched Big Game spot.

According to Chopra, the e.l.f. team was “blown away” by the results of the campaign.

She noted, “The Big Game ad was our highest-performing campaign in e.l.f. history, with over 100 billion media impressions.”

In particular, the Freevee courtroom TV sponsorship saw strong results. From February 20 to March 19, 2024, e.l.f. saw a +16.6% lift in purchase intent (compared with a +3.3% Kantar benchmark)¹ and a +10.6% lift in brand favorability (compared with a +2.3% Kantar benchmark) among audiences ages 18 to 34.²

Reflecting on the campaign’s success, Chopra mused, “Our experience just goes to show that when you join forces with creative and like-minded partners, anything is e.l.f.ing possible.”

Case closed.