Culture » Lifestyle

NARS Cosmetics' 'Sexually Explicit' Lipstick Ad Makes a Splash

by Kilian Melloy

EDGE Staff Reporter

Friday August 16, 2019

NARS Cosmetics have marketed their products with suggestive names, such as Climax Mascara, Triple X Gloss, and Deep Throat Blush, but a new ad that shows a vaguely phallic shape un-melting into a sculpted lipstick has some swearing off the brand - while others say they like it.

"When the nudes keep you up all night," the ad's text reads. "Reach the dawn with Morocco Lipstick, a warm cinnamon."

UK newspaper the Daily Mail reported that the ad was released on Aug. 11 and caused instant meltdowns of its own.

The Daily Mail reported that some influencers, such as Meghan McCain of "The View," responded negatively, with McCain posting a clip in showing a young boy covering his eyes. Others responded with jibes, such as the commentator who tweeted, "Clearly, they are not targeting the lesbian lipstick market."

But the ad also has its fans, among them model Chrissie Teigen, who offered her own one-sentence tagline on the product - a witticism that fit right into the brand's erotic style of marketing.

"honestly in love with this color and now I must have it to soften my boner," Teigen tweeted.

The new color is part of a line called After Hours, reported UK newspaper The Independent.

Reporting on the ad and the sensation it has occasioned, People Magazine recalled a quote by the company's founder, Francois Nars, from 2017: "By calling it a very specific name, a woman would fall in love with the product even more because it has more personality."

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.