On Tuesday, days before Olympics madness takes over our TVs and social media feeds, makeup brand Cover FX launched its latest campaign, “Ms. Irrelevant,” designed to reintroduce its Total Cover Cream Foundation. The formula was recently reformulated, allowing the brand to claim that the product is sweat-proof.
To market the refreshed foundation, the brand tapped three athletes, each of whom was the “last pick” in her sport’s draft. The concept riffs on “Mr. Irrelevant,” the nickname given to the last pick in the NFL draft — in 1976, former NFL player Paul Salata established “Irrelevant Week” to celebrate the final draft pick. The campaign stars tennis player Solymar Colling (ranked 1,310 in the Women’s Tennis Association), basketball player Angel Jackson (36th pick in the third round, last pick of the draft) and soccer player Talia Gabbara, (14th pick in the fourth round, last pick of the draft).
Many, many brands have tapped athletes for campaigns over the past year, but they have mostly chosen those with name recognition and large social followings.
“America loves the best, but we wanted to shed some light on the last pick of the draft — these are talented athletes, but they’re undervalued,” said Sara Mitzner, vp of brand marketing at Cover FX parent company AS Beauty Group.
As for the brand’s sweat-free claims, the foundation was tested via a third-party, lab-controlled sweat test, according to Cover FX. Fifteen minutes after the foundation was applied to the 55 test subjects, who spent the time in a sauna, a dermatologist found that the appearance of the foundation did not change on any of their skin. The participants were of varying ages and genders.
The campaign will come to life across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, SMS and the brand’s website, with the brand investing in paid ads on Meta and TikTok. The three athletes will post it to their own Instagram feeds, as well.
“I honestly love being the underdog; I like coming into each game and giving my opponents something they’re not expecting,” Jackson said. “‘Ms. Irrelevant’ means you can set higher standards — the sky’s the limit. Being picked last is not the worst thing ever. Sometimes God has a plan for us, but it’s just going to take a little more time and hard work.”
Gabbara added, “It’s all about perspective. A lot of people didn’t get drafted [who] had chased this dream for a while, and then their lives took a different path. … This [campaign] gives younger female athletes the understanding that they are capable of anything. And I think it’s important to encourage them to dream big and strive for greatness, no matter what kind of situation they are coming from. No matter how the public may label you, you are the only one who truly knows what you’re capable of and what you have to offer.”
CoverFX has been in a growth period. In the three months ending on May 6, 2024, its sales jumped 828% and it gained 21x more new customers year-over-year. In the aftermath of launching two influencer campaigns in February — one featuring Paris Jackson and one focused on covering up hickeys — the brand’s follower count on TikTok spiked 1,223%.
