This Is an Ad For Men: How L’Oréal Turned Lipstick Into a Leadership Lesson

The ones that spark conversation. The ones that make you stop flipping through the pages. The ones that stay with you. Today, on International Equal Pay Day, we’re throwing it back to a campaign that did exactly that.

In 2019, L’Oréal Paris released a series of print ads that, at first glance, looked like every other beauty ad. A lipstick. A nail polish. A mascara. But the headline wasn’t aimed at the typical shopper: “This is an ad for men.”

Just like that, they had our attention.

Each ad used a cosmetic product to deliver a message aimed directly at men in leadership. The lipstick ad wasn’t about shade matching; it highlighted that companies with more women in leadership see increased profit. The nail polish showed that female-led teams are more innovative. And the mascara highlighted the link between women in leadership and higher employee satisfaction.

What we love about this campaign is that it didn’t ask for permission to talk about equality. It didn’t ask women to explain or justify. It simply put the facts in front of the people who needed to see them, in their language, in their spaces, using tools they might never have noticed otherwise. It was bold, but not aggressive. Feminine, but not soft. Strategic, but not cold. It was everything we believe great storytelling should be.

As a women-led team, we collaborate every day with women who are running businesses, leading teams, building brands, and raising voices. There’s no question in our minds about what women bring to the table. But when a campaign takes that truth and presents it in a way that’s clever, creative, and culturally relevant? That’s the kind of work we want to celebrate.

Marketing is powerful. It’s not just about product, it’s about perspective. It’s about showing people what they hadn’t noticed, and making them feel it.

So today, we’re raising a (lipstick-stained) glass to the campaigns that do more. The ones that shift culture. The ones that make space. The ones that remind us why we do what we do.