The U.K.’s #1 FMCG beauty brand, Rimmel London, is using interactive in-text ads in a new campaign that begins April 25 and runs through mid-June.

The first beauty brand to do so, the campaign (created by Vibrant Media) visually depicts color options for two Rimmel brands: Sunshimmer Instant Tan make up and Day 2 Night Mascara.  

The Sunshimmer ad lets users “mouse over” different shades and the model’s leg color changes accordingly while featuring the headline “Get it on, wash it off.” One click on the chosen color and a consumer jumps to the check-out basket with the correct shade already placed there.Continue reading...

She may not be a household name today, but back in the 1960s and '70s Jacqueline Bisset was considered the thinking man's sex symbol — brainy, witty and (yes) hot. Still looking great at the ripe age of 65, she's now the thinking woman's sex symbol ... if Avon has its way.

Bisset has signed on as the face of Anew Platinum, the brand's first skincare products for women 60+. Given the growth in baby boomers, the launch should seem like a sure thing. It’s not.

"I have never seen a cosmetics company address the over-60 woman so directly," comments Stephen Reilly, founder and CEO of VibrantNation. "I haven't seen evidence of a real demand."Continue reading...

"One time a thing occurred to me. What's real, and what's for sale?" That's the opening line from the rock band Stone Temple Pilots' song Vasoline. But it works nearly as well as a line of questioning regarding the Vaseline brand's latest social marketing campaign in India: A Facebook application inviting Facebookers to lighten their skin.Continue reading...

The venerable icon of male sexuality, Hugh Hefner, is being sued – by his own shareholders.

Playboy shareholder David Brown will represent his fellow minority shareholders in a suit filed against Hefner for “unspecified damages,” reports BusinessWeek. Despite shares dropping from $30 to $10 within ten years, Hefner has refused to relinquish his lavish lifestyle, and shareholders are not fine with that. Abigail O'Donnell, a spokeswoman for the company, refused to comment on the issue. 

In the suit, Brown addresses Hefner's unabashed flaunting of excess: “[He] has continued to live the good life and make sure everyone knows it.” Furthermore, Brown and the shareholders are upset that the self-proclaimed senior playboy would place “his personal interests above and ahead of the interests of other shareholders and to their detriment."Continue reading...

To ring in 2009, Nivea created the “Kiss and Be Kissed” campaign and gave away 25,000 free goodies to revelers in Times Square to promote its latest Lip Care collection.

This year, the brand's “Nivea XOXO Chain” promotion expanded the idea by encouraging consumers to kiss and hug in the name of charity. With each documented physical connection uploaded to Nivea's website on New Year's Eve, one dollar was donated to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America volunteer organization. The videos and photos were then linked together into a virtual chain of affection.Continue reading...

Since the launch of Stila's tutorial-based website, stilabeautytube.com, other beauty brands haven taken notice and are now following the makeup brand's lead.

Dior Beauty is creating an entire site, complete with instructional videos, on how to properly apply the company's products. Though Stila and Dior started the trend by launching branded tutorials on YouTube, labels including Smashbox and MAC have created channels as well.

With so many beauty vloggers on the Web, the UK's Independent wrote that the channels allow large corporations such as Stila and Dior to differentiate themselves from the competition and “regain control over the vast amount of tutorials on the web and re-establish authority in beauty.”Continue reading...

Saks Fifth Avenue just gave "about 116" -- an interesting estimate -- employees in its Fifth Avenue beauty department the boot.

The New York Post reported that the department store cleansing was not a result of the recession. Rather, some speculate it may be part of a larger plan to avoid legal conflict since the retail union filed a petition to organize the department a mere two weeks ago.

“The timing is very suspicious,” said Gemma de Leon, executive vice president of Local 1102 of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. “If they’re doing this to avoid having their employees unionize, it’s against the law.”

Saks is assuring that the layoffs were unrelated to the union's petition, claiming it's simply part of an industry-wide shift in staffing policy.Continue reading...

Disney isn't known for its culturally diverse set of princesses, but that is changing with the release of The Princess and the Frog.

The movie's heroine, Tiana, is clearly different than her blonde-haired predecessors. Not only is Tiana Disney's first black princess, but she is also the starring personality in a major film that brings the dream of living happily ever after to children and adults of all races. It's taken until 2009, but finally the dream -- albeit an innocent and animated one -- is becoming more accessible. And Disney's brand stands to benefit from expanding its sense of humanity.

All brands, from McDonald's to Wal-Mart, want to secure brand loyalty from consumers at the earliest age possible. For many Americans, Disney is synonymous with childhood. And now, Disney is increasing the number of people who will feel that connection in the future.Continue reading...