Pink Is the Newest Face of CoverGirl
Cosmetics giant CoverGirl has announced that their latest muse and model is none other than Pink, the spunky pop singer whose 2006 hit “Stupid Girls” condemned the vapid lifestyle of socialites and reality TV culture. She is an interesting choice to front a cosmetics campaign and signifies a possibly exciting mainstream marketing shift towards women who present themselves with strong character, personal style and attitude.
While bold brands like M.A.C. have long championed less conventional, face-forward spokesmodels (Beth Ditto, Elton John and Lady Gaga along them), the average drugstore cosmetics brand has typically opted for a more anodyne beauty in their advertisements: the wan teenager selling wrinkle treatments to 50-year-olds, the relatably glamorous actress selling lipstick. They’re the same tropes that Jezebel readers moan about but that everyone still expects. Even Gwen Stefani’s L’Oreal ads convey little about the singer’s charming eccentricities and keep her spokesmodel role firmly within the traditional lines of beauty.
However, Pink is a firecracker and it’s hard to imagine anyone containing her. Already, CoverGirl proclaims this co-branding move as edgy. “[She] is going to dare every woman to take more beauty chances and join her in kicking traditional conventions to the curb,” the company’s press release asserts. The company hasn’t released details yet but hints that “surprising” makeup looks are in store courtesy of cosmetic maestro Pat McGrath.
What would be even more enticing than daring eyeliner would be daring dialogue: ads where Pink looks powerful and offers the same brand of frank, thought-provoking, vanity-minimizing insights that have made her such a unique pop star for over a decade. Ads in which she pokes fun at surface stereotypes but doesn’t belittle the power of a strong eye and lip, then acknowledges cosmetics’ capabilities as expressionist, transformative armor. It could be the mainstream beauty campaign that Sassy editors once dreamed about.
Pink’s CoverGirl campaign hits ad pages and makeup counters this autumn. Her new album, The Truth About Love, is out September 14th.