Beauty & Wellness Briefing: How brands are approaching messaging during this week’s presidential election

The presidential election is top of mind for most American consumers this week, leading brands to strategize on digital messaging. 

For many brands, the decision lies somewhere between taking a political stand on issues relevant to its values, encouraging civic engagement through pro-voting messaging or staying quiet, the latter of which appears to be the choice of a vast majority of beauty and wellness brands. 

“In general, brands are less involved in the conversation around this election than they were in 2020,” Bryan Gildenberg, founder and CEO of Confluencer Commerce business consultancy firm, told Glossy. He credited this drop not to brands disengaging from politics, but rather to 2020 serving as an outlier where many brands got involved that may not have otherwise. He credited 2020’s extra-political environment to the poor economic conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to the many social justice movements that prompted brands to share political and social posts. 

Anecdotally, he credited Bud Light — and the brand’s many marketing missteps around its partnership with influencer Dylan Mulvaney in 2023 — as one reason why many brands have backed off from social and political messaging. 

“I do think a lot of boardrooms observed that conversation and learned the wrong lesson,” he said. That is, “to not make a [political or social] statement at all … [although] I’m not sure that’s the right lesson to learn.”

While surveying beauty brands online, it certainly feels like fewer are choosing political or social messaging this season. It’s a trend also noticed by Jessica Ramirez, senior research analyst at Jane Hali and Associates market research firm. 

“It is definitely something that has been toned down and, given the political climate we live in today, it makes sense,” Ramirez told Glossy. She credited geopolitics — like the ongoing wars between Hamas and Israel, as well as Russia and Ukraine — and heightened tension between the two American political parties. “There is just much more at stake. [While some of the global issues are] not necessarily a national problem, it’s all connected [in the eyes of consumers]. So that’s where you see some of that separation, where brands have really backed off [from political and social messaging].”

Ramirez told Glossy that even the mention of voting can trigger consumers into questioning a brand’s stance on a variety of issues, which many simply want to avoid. 

As previously reported by Glossy, the beauty industry is unlikely to feel immediate financial reverberations after the election, with some analysts taking a “wait and see” approach which adds more gasoline to the fire. 

For brands that plan to post political messaging on Tuesday, encouraging civic engagement is, by far, the most popular strategy. It’s one adopted by Youth to the People, Hero Cosmetics, Tower 28, Rhode and Thirteen Lune, all of which have partnered with I Am A Voter. The non-partisan organization encourages civic engagement, such as promoting voter registration, early voting and day-of voting. 

“Consumer brands have incredible power in encouraging voter participation,” said Maddy Roth, co-founder of I Am A Voter. The group’s focus when partnering with brands includes fighting voting misinformation, logistical challenges and uncertainty around the impact of voting, as well as taking part in consumer goods partnerships to raise money for its causes. 

“Businesses are among the most trusted institutions, which places them in a unique position to provide their audiences with accurate, nonpartisan information about how, when and where to vote,” said Roth. “We measure success by engagement rates on civic content and feedback from audiences who feel more equipped to participate in elections.”

As reported by Glossy in September, product partnerships are a large part of the strategy at I Am A Voter, which — compared to beauty brands — had more success this season with fashion brands like Everlane, Kenneth Cole, The Great and Michael Stars.

In 2020, Versed, Iris&Romeo, Kosas and Josie Maran all partnered with the organization through collaborations, but not now of these brands has posted about the election this cycle as of Monday. Likewise, beauty power players like Benefit, Sephora and Westman Atelier promoted civic engagement ahead of the 2020 election but have not made political posts this year. 

However, cosmetic leaders like Glossier and Saie have gone a step forward this season with strong messaging. As previously reported by Glossy, Glossier ran a full-page ad in the New York Times in October encouraging readers to vote. While it did not endorse a candidate, the ad alluded to voting for women’s reproductive rights and sparked debate in its IG comments section. 

Meanwhile, Saie, the color cosmetics brand from founder Laney Crowell, partnered with various groups, like Fair Fight Action, League of Women and Vote.org, to create voting guides, which it shared on Instagram. 

“Our two strongest posts garnered [more than] 450 comments [each],” Saie’s Crowell told Glossy. “There was incredible discussion and engagement within the comments section.” This included a collab post with League of Women and a planet-focused voting guide.

As of Monday, Crowell was thrilled with the results. “The four collaboration posts we executed with different organizations reached nearly 50% of non-followers, meaning we exposed Saie to a lot of new users,” she said. In total, Saie has shared 16 voting-related posts on Instagram this year. Together, they’ve seen 665,000 views and over 2,000 comments, Crowell told Glossy. 

Meanwhile, some service-based beauty brands have opted for in-person events and promotions with bi-partisan messaging this week. For example, nail salon and product brand Chillhouse, which has locations in NYC and Paris, has extended a 15% off discount for in-salon manicures for those wearing an “I Voted” sticker. 

“I came up with the idea when I saw Beyoncé’s amazing [Vote] manicure [on Instagram] and knew we had to recreate it,” Cyndi Ramirez-Fulton, founder and CEO of Chillhouse, told Glossy. The star’s manicure featured a long, round shape and golden foil finish with the word ‘VOTE’ embossed into one nail.

“My colleague said we should give folks a discount when they prove they voted, and then it all came together,” said Ramirez-Fulton. She doesn’t plan to enforce a timeline on redemption and is forecasting around 50 discounted manicures. 

Feedback has been mostly positive. “So far, no major backlash or anything off-putting,” said Ramirez-Fulton. “We wanted it to be a non-partisan approach because the goal is not to have angry people in the comments. But, if you swipe to see whose mani we’re highlighting [Beyoncé’s], then the message is quite clear [who we support].” 

To wit: Beyonce’s Vote manicure received more than 2.6 million likes on Instagram as part of a slideshow from her speech at presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s recent Texas rally. 

Meanwhile, The Lip Bar, which sells color cosmetics through retailers like Target and allows for custom color creation at its own stores, is set to host an election party at its Detroit flagship store hosted by CEO Melissa Butler. All those wearing “I Voted” stickers are welcome at the party, which will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. 

Bi-partisan gifting is another strategy seen this election season. For example, Thinx is gifting its period-proof underwear to poll workers — they can redeem a custom code for a free pair online by messaging the brand’s IG admin. The brand offered the same promotion for the 2020 election. 

“We want to show appreciation for those who are volunteering to work long hours at local polling places and helping to make election day run smoothly — and the reality is, some of these vital volunteers will be menstruating on Election Day,” a representative from the brand told Glossy. 

I Am A Voter’s Roth hopes brands will take to social channels to encourage Americans to cast their ballot on Tuesday.  “What’s exciting is that it’s never too late for any brand to begin their civic journey,” she told Glossy. “Every effort, no matter how small, contributes to a culture of voter participation and is helping to normalize voter identity as something to be proud of.”

Executive moves: 

• Stéphane de La Faverie is set to take the role of CEO of Estée Lauder Companies effective January 1. He replaces Fabrizio Freda, the current president and CEO, who is retiring at the end of fiscal year 2025. De La Faverie started at ELC in 2011 with his most recent role being executive group president.
  
• Skin-care brand Dieux, known best for its TikTok-famous reusable under-eye patches, has a new CEO. Ryan Scott, former executive at Unilever-owned skin-care brand Tatcha, has taken on the role from co-founder Charlotte Palermino, who will now serve as chief brand officer. 

News to know:

• L’Oréal Group, which teased a new dandruff-focused scalp-care innovation in an earnings call last month, released a new hair-care range from derm-focused skin-care brand CeraVe last week. The line offers five SKUs spanning shampoo and conditioner, for both dandruff and all hair types, and priced under $10 each on Walmart.com. As previously reported by Glossy, the scalp category has been overperforming for the past several years, including a 36% sales growth in prestige scalp-care products from May 2023 to May 2024, according to Circana market research company.

• Puig, the Spanish beauty and fashion conglomerate behind brands like Byredo fragrance, Charlotte Tilbury cosmetics and Dr. Barbara Sturm skincare, announced an 11.1% like-for-like sales spike in its Q3 earnings last week. The group reported $3.7 billion in sales during the fiscal quarter.
  
• Dior will open its first beauty-exclusive retail store in the U.S. on Wednesday. The new brick-and-mortar location, located in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, will offer color cosmetics, fragrance and skin-care.
  
• According to reporting by CNBC, pharmacy deserts are appearing across the U.S. due to Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS drug store closures. Walgreens is set to close around 25% of its 8,200 stores, while Rite Aid, which filed bankruptcy in 2023, will close 800 stores. CVS closed 10% of its U.S. locations between 2022 and 2024. The CNBC reporting cites the Midwest as being the hardest-hit region.
  
• Contract manufacturing platform SV Labs, which is owned by private equity firm San Francisco Equity Partners, has acquired Canadian contract manufacturer Sigan Industries Group for an undisclosed amount. This marks San Francisco Equity Partners’ third beauty industry contract manufacturer acquisition, which also includes Wisconsin-based Diversified Manufacturing Corporation in 2022. 

Stat of the week:

Consumers plan to spend around $1,778 this holiday season, which is up 8% from 2023, according to new data released by Deloitte, a services network that provides auditing, consultation, advisory and tax services to leading global corporations. According to the group, the average consumer plans to purchase nine gifts this year, compared to eight last year.  

In the headlines:

Sephora ends partnership with Hydrafacial. Conservation experts sound the alarm over Australian sandalwood. Has fast beauty crashed? New brand Skincare Generics is proudly duping Augustinus Bader and La Mer. Lots of beauty products are expensive — why did Patrick Ta Beauty’s $42 Eyeshadow Duo tick off TikTok? Bath & Body Works to open 500th international store in London. Nira’s skincare devices are spreading laser technology beyond dermatologists’ offices. Evolvetogether teams up with Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop on limited-edition zero waste soap with dissolvable wrapper. 

Listen in: 

Rosie Jane Johnston, founder of fine fragrance and body-care brand By Rosie Jane, joins the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss her brand’s first expansion into the mass category with a new retail partnership at Target. 

Need a Glossy recap? 

‘Wait and see’: How the US presidential election will impact the beauty market. Inside Cassandra Grey’s 2025 plans for Violet Grey. How The Doux became an 8-figure textured hair-care brand. How Dove leveraged Charli XCX’s Sweat tour to launch a full-body deodorant. Estée Lauder Companies reports double-digit drop in sales in Asia, withdraws 2025 outlook. Why Gen-Z fashion brand Grey Bandit hosted a gifting suite for customers. Field marketing tactics are bringing much-needed exposure to young startup brands. Brands bet on gift guides, haul videos to inspire holiday gifting.