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You may have noticed MCo Beauty on social media — or at a Kroger supermarket, where it first hit U.S. shelves earlier this year. And there’s a good chance that was because some of its products are dead ringers for popular ones from more expensive brands. Think: Charlotte Tilbury’s Flawless Filter, $49 — a similar MCo product is dubbed Flawless Glow, $26; Sol de Janeiro’s Brazilian Crush Cheirosa ’62 Bum Bum Hair & Body Fragrance Mist, $38 — a similar MCo product is simply called Fragrance Mist, $12; and Glossier’s Cloud Paint, $22 — the MCo lookalike is called Cheek & Lip Tint, $8.
The Australian brand, which is 10 years old, is the No. 1 beauty brand in all of Australia and New Zealand, based on sales, according to Greg Barker, its evp of North America. But the brand as it is known today only came to fruition in the past five years. Its founder, Shelley Sullivan, has a background in fashion, Barker said. When she first started the brand, she created a number of fashion-based collaborations, through which she learned the importance of fast product development. And though, today, MCo may be best known for its dupes — a hot topic in today’s beauty industry — only about half of its SKUs fit the bill. For example, one of its earliest launches, its Xtend Lash Mascara ($18), a tubing formula, is not a dupe. According to Barker, it’s the brand’s bestselling product in Australia.
As MCo sees it, dupes are a matter of democratization. “What we’re doing is saying to the people who can’t afford $1,000 worth of makeup for their face: ‘Hey, everyone deserves luxury.’ This is not something that should be exclusive,” said Meridith Rojas, the brand’s CMO.
In a few months, MCo will launch in “one of the largest retailers in the country,” Barker said, declining to elaborate. When the brand’s executives first met with the retailer, Rojas did a demonstration: “Half my face was done in prestige products [that cost] nearly $1,000. The other half was under $100. I asked them straight away, ‘Which side do you think is MCo?’ And they thought it was the prestige side,” she said. In June, influencer Mikayla Nogueira (now at 16 million followers on TikTok) posted a video with the same approach. It has over 21 million views and 2.9 million likes. Comments include sentiments like, “Noooo I’ve been gatekeeping McoBeauty 😭😭😭,” “Mco beauty be the new elf 😂,” and “noooo mco beauty is for aussies 😔🥲🥲.”
But unsurprisingly, the approach has also drawn ire from brands that feel, well, duped.
In 2021, Tarte sued MCo alleging that the brand’s packaging for its concealer was too similar to its own. The dispute was settled out of court. The same year, MCo was sued by Chemcorp, an Australian company that sells lash and brow products. Chemcorp alleged that MCo was infringing on its copyright — but this too, was settled out of court. In both cases, MCo changed its packaging as part of the settlement.
“The idea that the company is involved in any form of regular litigation or anything like that is not true,” Barker said, when asked about the suits. Furthermore, he said, “We take great care, enormous care, to make sure that trademark, copyrights and other potential tension points are thoroughly explored before we go to market. We’re very careful not to present our products in a way that detracts from other brands. If people juxtapose our products with somebody else’s, that is a conclusion they have drawn themselves. We would never, ever guide, through our marketing activities, someone to actively compare our product to somebody else’s. We believe our products are strong enough to stand on their own two feet.”
Marketing dupes, for obvious reasons, presents an interesting challenge. In October, before the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest in New York City set the internet aflame, MCo’s social team had a representative on site — a Timothée Chalamet lookalike. “A lot of people’s initial reaction would have been, ‘Well, Timothée Chalamet doesn’t wear makeup. How does that tie?’ But immediately, we were like, ‘Let’s go with this,'” said Rojas. The brand’s head of social found a Wisconsin-based Chalamet lookalike with 200,000 followers on TikTok. “This kid had never been on an airplane before,” Rojas said. “We used some of our products, like our contour wand, to make his jawline perfect. And we gave him a couple hundred of those in a [branded] MCo bag to hand out at the competition.”
The real Chalamet showed up at the contest, making it global news, and, as a result, MCo saw a small boost on social. Its branded bag showed up in the background of multiple photos across media platforms. Rojas said the brand wasn’t targeting a specific sales goal. Rather, it was aiming for the “compounding effect” of being seen by U.S. consumers multiple times.
That was not the only time MCo has participated in duping a person. A few months ago, it sent a “dupe” of Sabrina Carpenter out on the streets of Manhattan, which it originally posted on TikTok. That content is no longer live. The brand declined to comment on what happened, but Rojas stated, “We believe indifference is death. I’d rather people feel something than nothing toward the brand. … In marketing, we have a sense of humor. Some get the joke and others don’t. We certainly mean no harm in our initiatives.”
Like so many other brands, MCo is working to “move at the speed of culture,” Rojas said. Just last week, it tapped TikTok’s latest star, “Olive Oil Girl” — real name: Megan Chacalos — whose December 6 post about an olive oil hair mask gone very wrong is now up to over 61 million views. “This is my favorite kind of moment to jump in on,” Rojas said. The brand DM’ed her “within that first 30-hour window,” and by December 13, Chacalos, who now has over 78,000 followers, posted a “get ready with me” TikTok titled “GRWM & Olive Oil Q&A ft. @MCOBeauty_US.” In the video, she simply applies MCo products while further elaborating on her viral tale. The sponsored post has 137,000 views and over 2,000 likes.
Influencer marketing is key for the brand as it further establishes its U.S. presence. It hit Kroger’s shelves in March, and “turned media on in April,” Barker said, noting that MCo has already partnered with 5,000 U.S. creators. Bethenny Frankel has posted about the brand numerous times in both paid and organic capacities. It has also worked with Paris Hilton to feature one of its non-dupe hero products, its Liplights Shine Gloss, in her music video for the song “BBA.” In addition, Hilton has helped seed the brand to celebs including Kathy Griffin and the Kardashians.
When the “Apple Dance,” based on Charli XCX’s song “Apple,” went viral on TikTok, its creator, Kelley Heyer, posted that she had wanted to go to the VMAs but MTV could not accommodate her ticket request. Rojas said MCo was among the first brands to respond. Alongside Bacardi, the brand partnered with Heyer, sponsoring her attendance at the VMAs. MCo posted an Instagram Reel in which it told the story of responding to Heyer’s request and, subsequently, helping her glam up for the occasion. “Not all the marketing we do will be [dupe-related]. It’s going to be more broad, to stay in the social conversation in a way that’s for our core audience and a bit unexpected.”
Collabs of the week:
Madewell x Agmes
Should you have any holiday parties left and need an accessory with some extra shine, look no further than Madewell’s collab with indie jewelry brand Agmes. The two partnered on the Lennox Bag ($198), which is rendered in five shades of seasonally-appropriate suede, including black, brown, red, navy and burnished orange. “This is Agmes’s first handbag, and our intention was to create something that’s chic, functional and made with beautiful materials — an essential and glamorous wardrobe piece that easily transitions from day to night,” said Agmes founder Morgan Lang. “The Madewell team knew the intricacies of bag mechanics and working with them was an education in new techniques.” The hardware on the bag is a sculptural silver, reminiscent of many of Lang’s designs for Agmes. Shop it here.
Express x Maeve Reilly
And for one last bit of holiday dressing inspo, … Express tapped Maeve Reilly to curate an assortment from its collection to make holiday shopping easy. It is the retailer’s first time working with the celebrity stylist. Reilly is known for her work with clients including Eva Longoria and Jennifer Hudson, and has 993,000 Instagram followers. “Partnering with [Maeve] Reilly is a natural fit for Express, especially during the holidays when our customers are looking for pieces that are stylish and versatile, and help them feel their best at every moment. Maeve’s ability to elevate any look perfectly aligns with our brand’s vision of modern, effortless style,” said Joe Berean, svp of marketing and creative at Express. Reilly posted about the partnership on her own feed, as seen above. Express also tapped other content creators to appear in its holiday campaign alongside Reilly.
Berean said Express will measure the success of the campaign based on subsequent engagement with the collection and feedback “from those who make the looks part of their own celebrations.” In addition, metrics across social engagement, sales and overall brand sentiment will be regarded as “indicators of Express having a strong, resonant connection with our audience.” Shop it here.
