Beauty and sports are big businesses that have only become more connected in recent years, but the relationship has its ups and downs. The 2024 Super Bowl featured memorable ads from top beauty brands, including e.l.f., Cetaphil, CeraVe, NYX, and Dove. These brands couldn’t have picked a better year to make the $7 million investment for a 30-second advertising campaign, considering the Super Bowl drew the largest-ever female audience in 2024, with 58.8 million women tuning in. This marked a 9% increase from the previous year, surpassing the 7% growth in overall viewership. Driven in part by what experts dubbed the “Taylor Swift effect,” football saw a significant increase in popularity among both women and young people over the last couple of years, and beauty brands were eager to capitalize on the global attention that comes with securing a coveted Super Bowl ad spot.

After the impressive display of ads from beauty brands at last year's Super Bowl (and with Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, back at the Super Bowl for the third year in a row with the Kansas City Chiefs), it was surprising to see that beauty brands were largely absent from the big game. Brands like e.l.f. and NYX Professional Cosmetics, which both ran their first Super Bowl ads last year, both opted to run social media campaigns instead of paying the now $8 million (up $1 million from 2024—how about that inflation rate?) for a 30-second TV spot. Dove, which also bought its first-ever Super Bowl ad last year, was the only beauty brand to run a nationally televised ad this year.

The beauty industry may have picked a good year to watch from the sidelines: outside of a few standout spots from Nike, Jeep, and alcohol brands like Budweiser, Bud Light, and Stella Artois, “the consensus among industry observers is that this year’s game lacked some of the creativity of years past,” according to AdAge.

Instead of paying for a national TV spot, many beauty brands instead opted to launch social campaigns geared towards sports fans. Below, here’s a recap of all the beauty campaigns that kept us entertained before, during, and after the big game.

Dove

Dove aired a 30-second commercial during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl centered around body confidence issues in girls' sports. The ad highlighted Dove’s findings that nearly half of girls who quit sports do so after receiving criticism about their body type. The spot featured an instrumental version of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" performed by H.E.R., released 50 years after the original track premiered. The commercial highlighted Dove's Body Confident Sport program, which provides coaching tools for building confidence in girls between the ages of 11 to 17.

The campaign extended beyond the TV spot with events planned in New Orleans to demonstrate the Body Confident Sports program and discuss body image pressures on young female athletes. Using the hashtag #KeepHerConfident, the campaign's central message is to keep girls confident in sports and address how appearance-based criticism impacts girls' participation in athletics.

Revlon

Revlon partnered with sports agency Athletes First to create the "House of Revlon" within "The Block," a massive 100,000-square-foot hospitality space consisting of four connected mansions near the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The activation, which ran from February 6 to 8, featured a Revlon Glimmer Bar offering professional makeup services and an American Crew Grooming Lounge providing hair styling treatments. The space also included sampling stations for Juicy Couture and John Varvatos fragrances, and Revlon served as an associate sponsor of two invitation-only parties during the weekend.

The venue, dubbed "The Block," was designed as a first-of-its-kind experience. It featured four interconnected mansions and a sprawling 10,000-square-foot courtyard complete with pools and gardens. Located within walking distance of the Superdome, the space includes private content studios and an athlete performance center, creating a comprehensive luxury experience for guests.

The initiative marks Revlon's strategic entry into sports marketing, targeting both male and female demographics during Super Bowl week. According to Kelly Solomon, Revlon's Chief Digital Marketing Officer, the focus was on brand relevancy and creating an "unexpected and delightful immersive experience" at the intersection of beauty and sports. The invitation-only event hosted approximately 3,000 guests, including Athletes First clients, their families, influencers, and brand partners.

Cetaphil

Last week, Cetaphil launched a pre-Super Bowl campaign called "We're All a Lil Sensitive," featuring rapper Lil Wayne. The campaign plays on the fact that Wayne wasn't performing at the Super Bowl halftime show in his hometown of New Orleans. The campaign turned Wayne's disappointment into a relatable message about sensitivity, connecting it to Cetaphil's gentle skincare products.

The campaign includes a commercial featuring Lil Wayne and TikTok-famous dermatologist Dr. Muneeb Shah. The commercial launched on YouTube before being distributed across social media platforms. It also aired regionally in New Orleans during the Super Bowl. Lil Wayne teased the spot on Instagram Stories the Tuesday before the big game, posting that he had a "seat to fill" at the Super Bowl before revealing his partnership with the skincare brand.

“Can’t change the sensitive situation? At least you can soothe your sensitive skin,” the YouTube description reads.

Instead of being sad that he wasn’t chosen to be the halftime performer in his hometown this year, Wayne channels that energy into helping others achieve their skin goals using Cetaphil—even if their skin is a “Lil Sensitive.” The commercial plays on the idea that while Cetaphil can't resolve every sensitive situation, its products can help soothe sensitive skin.

NYX Professional Makeup

Following their 2024 Super Bowl TV ad featuring Cardi B, NYX launched a social-first campaign called "The Big Fat Kiss.” Unlike last year, this campaign doesn't include a television commercial but instead focuses on a unique partnership with sports betting platform DraftKings. This marks the first-ever collaboration between a makeup brand and a sports gambling company.

The campaign stars influencer Brittany Broski and promotes NYX's Fat Oil Lip Drip product. It centers around betting predictions for celebratory moments during the game, such as who might share "the biggest, fattest kiss of the night," playing off moments like the viral Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce kiss from 2023. Through DraftKings' platform, fans can participate in free contests with a chance to win from a $60,000 prize pool.

“NYX Professional Makeup is a brand rooted in entertainment, constantly looking for ways to disrupt norms and never afraid to take risks as we pioneer new paths for beauty,” said general manager Yasmin Dastmalchi. “With The Big Fat Kiss, we’re redefining how beauty shows up in sports and creating an unforgettable cultural moment for fans to engage in everywhere.”

This initiative represents NYX's broader strategy of engaging with sports culture. The brand has previously partnered with athletes like JuJu Watkins, sponsored the WNBA's New York Liberty, and hosted activations at Angel City FC women's soccer games. According to NYX, while the DraftKings partnership might seem unexpected for a makeup brand, it aligns with its goal of meeting customers where they are and participating in cultural moments. The campaign also taps into the growing sports betting market, which has expanded significantly since 2018 and now includes a notable female user base, with data showing 12% of women in New York using sports betting apps.

e.l.f Cosmetics 

e.l.f Cosmetics attempted to pull football fans away from the big screen with the launch of the “E.L.F.TIME Show," a multi-platform livestream watch party that runs simultaneously with the Super Bowl, featuring sportscaster Suzy Shuster, actress Yvonne Orji, and drag queen Heidi N Closet as hosts. The initiative builds on research showing 70% of Americans use multiple media platforms during the game, and extends e.l.f.'s season-long "eyes. lips. face. fandom." campaign.

The brand took a multichannel approach to Super Bowl marketing: they partnered with streaming service Tubi as the only beauty brand in their live game programming, introduced shoppable features on shop.tubi.tv, and served as the Official Cosmetics Partner of Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl XXI. Their programming includes "Klaus," a character from their "e.l.f. von zehn" campaign, who will report from New Orleans during the game. e.l.f.’s global “e.l.f. von zehn,” is a global campaign first launched in the German market and features Klaus as e.l.f.’s “Chief Science Officer.” Klaus can be seen awarding e.l.f.’s Power Grip Primer, Halo Glow Liquid Filter, Lash Xtndr Mascara, and Glow Reviver Lip Oil an “e.l.f. von zehn”—which translates to 11 out of 10.

This represents e.l.f.'s third consecutive year of Super Bowl marketing, following their 2023 debut and their 2024 "Judge Beauty" campaign. The 2025 strategy focuses on democratizing access to sports fandom through a combination of streaming, social media, and traditional advertising channels. The watch party streamed across multiple platforms, including TikTok, Twitch, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon, and elfcosmetics.com.