e.l.f. Cosmetics just gave a $7 blush stick a part in its Halloween efforts.
The beauty brand just launched its new "e.l.f.ing Magical Sisters" campaign as October creeps in.
Americans will spend $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, and e.l.f. picked the one adult costume losing people.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) counts 4.8 million adults dressing as a witch, down from 5.6 million last year.
The ad features Priah Ferguson of "Stranger Things," Keyla Monterroso Mejia of "The Studio," and Bebe Wood of "Mean Girls" (2024).
The three actresses play witches selling the brand's $7 Soft Glam Cream Blush & Bronzer Sticks.
"'The e.l.f.ing Magical Sisters' delivers the disruptive, laugh-out-loud entertainment e.l.f. is known for," said Oshiya Savur, CMO of e.l.f. Brands.
"Spooky season is a cultural moment for every eye, lip, and face to join."
e.l.f. Made, the brand's entertainment arm, conceptualized the spot in-house.
Anna Drezen, head writer on "Saturday Night Live" for seasons 46 and 47, wrote the script in partnership with the brand.
Hannah Levy of Hungryman Productions directed.
Casting three recognizable young actors puts the affordable stick in front of an audience that already follows them.
e.l.f. is paying for reach it would otherwise buy in media, which is the economics behind its run of celebrity partnerships.
Three Witches and a Sitcom Opening
The short follows the three modern-day witches inside a mansion.
Sitting in a circle, they start to question how they were able to achieve three different looks with the same Bronzer Stick.
This is the moment they realize they're witches, and the rest of the ad plays out like a 2000s sitcom-styled introduction.
Viewers then get comedic banter between the sisters and their mom. A delivery man takes the worst of it, right up until the sisters learn he's gay.
The joke resolves on the product claim that looking snatched takes no powers, just a Soft Glam Cream Blush & Bronzer Stick.
The spot runs on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, keeping the brand voice in the hands of e.l.f. from script to feed.
The makeup sticks contain 2% shea butter and 1% sunflower seed oil, and e.l.f. says 50% of purchasers are new to the brand.
They sell for $7 at elfcosmetics.com, Ulta, Target, Walmart, Boots, Superdrug, and Amazon.
Pricing the hero product at $7 keeps the sketch from working as pure brand awareness.
Anyone who laughs at it can act on it during their drugstore run, which is the advantage of e.l.f.'s approach to affordable product innovation.
Witch Costumes Down to 4.8 Million Adults
Halloween spending is holding at last year's record level.
The NRF expects U.S. Halloween spending to reach $13.5 billion this year, up from $13.1 billion in 2025.
The witch costume still tops the adult list at 4.8 million people, though NRF counted 5.6 million a year ago.
Vampire climbed in the same stretch, from 2.7 million to 4.2 million.
e.l.f. bought into the biggest costume category at the exact point it started thinning out.
The upside is that the witch still outranks everything else by 600,000 people, so the audience is large even while it shrinks.
Core lessons emerge for marketers with seasonal products:
- Release when the theme peaks: Shoppers hunting for witch costumes in September are ready to dress as one with e.l.f. in October.
- Hire seasoned writers for product stories: A sketch veteran gives a blush stick the pacing of entertainment people choose to watch.
- Keep the price in view: NRF says consumers are approaching the season with affordability in mind, and a $7 product fits that mood.
e.l.f. has spent the past year stacking up entertainment formats, including music, live events, and promotional stunts pulled from pop culture.
Recently, the brand released the "Mirror Mix" album with seven independent artists and brought a 10-foot pickle jar to the Minnesota State Fair in August.
A scripted comedy short adds a fourth format to that slate.
Running all of it through e.l.f. Made gives the brand strategy team control over tone that most agency arrangements can't match.
Our Take: Can a Halloween Punchline Sell Blush in November?
A spooky shtick will only get attention the moment the campaign drops up until Halloween, while a blush stick sits on shelves all year.
But maybe the point of the ad is to show the versatility of e.l.f.'s products and the various looks you can achieve with them.
Three sisters get three different looks out of one bronzer stick, and this beat is the actual sales pitch.
Hiring Drezen is the smarter half of the spend, since a scripted sketch with recognizable actors gets rewatched.
And once the season's up, we would like to see what e.l.f. can do with the sisters before the year ends.
Maybe they could even be Santa's elves.
Building entertainment that sells takes writers, directors, and production partners who can hold a joke together from script to shelf.
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