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After its viral Super Bowl campaign featuring actor Michael Cera, skin care brand CeraVe is again blurring the lines between advertising and entertainment with a movie trailer for a romantic comedy.
The trailer previews a fake film, The One Under the Sun, that has all the makings of a Netflix romcom sensation, with a woman looking for love that is not just “another summer fling.” But the video instead spoofs tropes of the genre, revealing a matchmaker who’s actually a dermatologist.
When the protagonist proclaims that she “met the one,” her true love turns out to be a bottle of moisturizer. She goes through all the highs and lows of new romance, including introducing her unexpected partner to friends and family, who reason that “at least she’s using protection.”
The film, produced by agency 72andSunny, promotes CeraVe’s Facial Moisturizing SPF 30 lotion. With its bizarre twist, it continues tactics from the brand’s successful Super Bowl campaign.
One is the mix of entertainment with education. The ultimate goal of this romantic satire is to change people’s skin care routines, but to do that, the brand aimed to “transcend traditional advertising while tapping into the zeitgeist,” Adam Kornblum, senior vice president and global head of digital marketing for CeraVe, told ADWEEK.
“We want people to understand the importance of wearing SPF daily while laughing along with us as we weave together this lighthearted, romantic tale that we hope is as entertaining as it is educational,” Kornblum said. “Consumers are skipping ads now more than ever, and YouTube data told us that movie trailers have a higher consideration and watch-through rates over traditional ads—so we leaned in.”
Why a romcom? Kornblum explained that “CeraVe is a playful yet serious brand. Its tone of voice and personality lend itself” to the genre.
“Our culture is obsessed with romance and reality dating, so we knew anchoring the campaign in the romcom genre would resonate with audiences,” he added.
Like its Super Bowl initiative, in which creators spread rumors about Michael Cera being a skin care guru before anyone realized it was an ad campaign, CeraVe’s romcom project led with influencer activity. The brand partnered with 40 reality dating stars, movie reviewers, filmmakers, movie poster designers and dermatology influencers to build buzz ahead of its cinematic launch.
For example, some influencers posted double entendre-laden matchmaker videos between April 8 and 11. The film will premiere today (April 12) on the TikTok channel of dermatologist Dr. Wallace Nozile, who plays the matchmaker.
Following the premiere, movie reviewers will post their reviews of CeraVe’s romcom on their channels.
CeraVe is hoping its romcom spoof captivates viewers as much as its Super Bowl campaign, which “beat every KPI (key performance indicator) we set at the start,” Kornblum said.
The effort with Cera, in which the actor pranked people into believing he was the founder of the brand in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, tallied over 2.3 million earned engagements across social media and more than 32 billion impressions across the length of the campaign, according to Kornblum. ADWEEK ranked it the No. 1 Super Bowl ad of the year.
