e.l.f. Cosmetics, under fire for Matt Rife ad, says 'we missed the mark'

USA Today

2 days ago

Move over, American Eagle: popular beauty company e.l.f. Cosmetics is the latest brand to come under fire for an ad campaign.
The budget beauty brand shared the campaign on Aug. 11, starring comedian Matt Rife and drag queen Heidi N Closet playing the role of lawyers.
The video is set at the fictional 'Law Offices of e.l.f.ino & Schmarnes," a play on the real-life law firm Cellino & Barnes. In a parody of the real firm's iconic commercials of the 1990s and 2000s, Rife and Closet act as 'affordable beauty attorneys" who have gone to "e.l.f. court for millions of clients, helping them to access beauty products they deserve at prices that won't injure their livelihoods."
'I know a thing or two about red flags. And pricey makeup? You deserve better than that,' Rife says in the ad, which ends with the pair encouraging viewers to call '1-855-COLD-HARD-LASH."
Many fans quickly took issue with the inclusion of Rife, who has previously sparked controversy and backlash from women, particularly after a domestic violence joke he made in his debut Netflix special. Here's what to know about the latest incident involving e.l.f.
Who is Matt Rife and why is he controversial?
Rife, 29, gained widespread popularity in 2022 when videos of his stand-up comedy, specifically his crowd work, went viral on TikTok. He had previously appeared in a few small roles on reality and traditional television, making it to the semifinals of the comedy competition show "Bring the Funny" in 2019.
Rife had ruffled some feathers with his quips over the years, but the real backlash came with the release of his Netflix special "Natural Selection" in November 2023. The special, which received mixed reviews, was what Rife himself described as an attempt at appealing to a male audience after his rise to fame was largely attributed to female supporters.
"And that's one thing that I wanted to tackle in this special was showing people that, like, despite what you think about me online, I don't pander my career to women," he said in an interview with Variety. "I would argue this special is way more for guys."
Rife opened the special with a joke about domestic violence, telling a story about visiting a "ratchet" restaurant in Baltimore with his friend and noticing a female server had a black eye. As the story goes, the duo wondered why the establishment wouldn't keep the server in the kitchen to avoid customers seeing her injury.
"Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn't have that black eye," he quipped. "I figure if we start the show with domestic violence, the rest of the show should be smooth sailing."
Continued backlash
Rife's response to subsequent backlash landed him in even deeper water when he posted a fake apology on his Instagram story. "If you've ever been offended by a joke I've told, here's a link to my official apology," he wrote alongside a link that led to a website selling "special needs helmets."
These jokes, paired with several others disparaging women throughout the special, left a bad taste in the mouths of people who were once his core audience. Rife, who later faced a controversy over allegedly making inappropriate comments to a 6-year-old child online, acknowledged again on an episode of the "BFF's Pod" podcast that while women were responsible for his success, he was steering away from catering to that audience.
"Without women, I would've never gained the momentum I did on social media, and I'm so grateful for that," he said. "But in doing that, a lot of dudes didn't like that. ... I feel like my comedy is more for guys than women."
e.l.f controversy
Rife's alienation of his female audience is the crux of the criticism surrounding e.l.f.'s new ad campaign. With the brand and its products being overwhelmingly targeted at women, fans expressed confusion with Rife's involvement.
Even without taking his past comments into consideration, said some netizens, Rife has never before been associated with makeup, cosmetics or the beauty space, unlike his commercial co-star.
"Elf Cosmetics says on their 'elf cares' site that elf stands for empowering legendary females while also simultaneously hiring someone who makes light of DV," said one commenter underneath e.l.f.'s YouTube upload of the ad. "You can't claim diversity and feeling safe and inclusion while also wasting your marketing budget."
"Literally any other guy could have done this, Matt rife sucks," said another.
"So… Rife was the only one y'all could get?" said one more.
"You didn't have the budget for a comedian who doesn't joke about abuse?" said a commenter under the brand's Instagram post. Another wrote, "Oooooh. Matt Rife? The guy who jokes about DV? In an ad targeted to women? That's, um. A choice." One commenter half-joked, "Who will you hire next? Andrew Tate? You just lost a lot of customers."
Calls to boycott the brand have taken off on several social media platforms, with beauty influencers, including those who have previously partnered with e.l.f., leading the charge. Some even posted videos of themselves throwing out their e.l.f. products.
Creators like James Welsh, Katie Raymond, Jillie Clark and Nikkie de Jager made videos and comments decrying the choice and publicly rescinding support for the brand.
e.l.f. responds to backlash
e.l.f. released a statement on its Instagram account on Aug. 15, offering an apology to its customers.
'You know us, we're always listening and we've heard you,' it said. 'This campaign aimed to humorously spotlight beauty injustice. We understand we missed the mark with people we care about in our e.l.f. community. while e.l.f.ino & schmarnes closes today, we'll continue to make the case against overpriced beauty."
The post, which received more than 64k likes, was flooded with more than 6,000 comments, many of which were not satisfied with the veracity of the apology.
"'Missed the mark' is a pretty loose way of saying 'we intentionally alienated our audience by hiring a man who torpedoed his career by alienating his audience,'" said one comment with more than 8,000 likes. "Are you seriously trying to add humour to your apology? Take down the original ads from all platforms. How tone deaf can you be?" said another.
e.l.f. Beauty's Global Chief of Marketing Officer Kory Marchisotto told trade publication The Business of Beauty in an Aug. 14 interview that the brand was "surprised" by the poor reception.
"Obviously we're very surprised,' said Marchisotto, who explained that they chose Rife because of the alignment between his TikTok followers and the brand's target audience. 'There is a big gap between our intention and how this missed the mark for some people."
"We always aim to deliver positivity, and this one didn't. So we find ourselves in a position where, quite honestly, that doesn't feel good for us," she said.
USA TODAY has reached out to e.l.f. and Rife for comment.