Sometimes a small gesture goes a long way.
Last night at the 2014 Oscars, Ellen DeGeneres truly played the role of host as she delivered pizzas to the Hollywood elite during the ceremony. Everyone has been discussing one of the most star-studded selfies of all-time – which was a boon for Twitter and social TV – but the true winner last night was Clarins.
While Ellen delivered the pizza, she wasn’t going to pay for it. Instead, she began collecting money in Pharrell’s hat and received from Harvey Weinstein, John Travolta, and Kevin Spacey, before she reached Lupita Nyong’o.
“Your stock just went up. You have some money now, Lupita.”
Lupita did not deposit cash, but instead gave Ellen her lip balm. “Lupita’s lip balm!” Ellen exclaimed. “That’s worth something.”
Almost immediately, #LupitasLipBalm started to trend on Twitter as the Twittersphere tried to figure out what brand Lupita was wearing. InStyle’s Marianne Mychaskiw put it best: “just about everything the star did began trending in 140 characters or less.”
It didn’t take long for people to realize it was Clarins HydraQuench lip balm, which, according to a release from the company today, “almost sold out across the country over night.”
Based on the release from Clarins, Lupita’s on-air hand-over resulted in immediate sales. Brands consistently demonstrate a willingness to pony up for 30-second spots during the Super Bowl and the Oscars, but last night Clarins was the rare beneficiary of free, organic social advertising.
Lupita's lip balm probably already has a twitter account. Meanwhile, IT'S CLARINS! pic.twitter.com/8VW27ra8l7
— Clarins (@ClarinsNews) March 3, 2014