Lipstick ads are all pretty much the same in theory: Pretty model/celebrity applies lipstick, runs dramatically through a city in beautiful clothes, meets up with male-model boyfriend, pouts and smiles at the camera. They get their point across (look how pretty our lipstick makes your lips look!), but they don't tend to be all that stimulating. We didn't expect Lancôme to be the ones to challenge that convention, but lo and behold, the storied French brand is letting their freak flag fly with this little gem.
More of a music video than a commercial, it was created to introduce the brand's new Rouge In Love lipsticks. Directed by Adria Petty (one of the masterminds behind Beyoncé's "Countdown" video) and featuring a song by French pop duo Brigitte, the video is like a surrealist take on a typical cosmetics ad — disembodied lips sing along to the words of the song and apply the new lipsticks to their floating pouts while the Eiffel Tower and Times Square loom in the background. Lancôme spokesmodel Emma Watson even makes a few appearances, on bus ads and Jumbotrons.
It's definitely a bit strange, but it's also highly entertaining, so kudos to the brand for trying something different. Also, those lipsticks look amazing and we want every single shade, so looks like this little experiment was a success, at least in our case.