holywood model: Finding the Beauty in Sports

Two years ago during the Super Bowl, while I was mindlessly eating buffalo chicken dip and guacamole, something caught my eye that I wasn't expecting.

makeup commercial?!" I asked incredulously, turning up the volume on my TV to be sure. Indeed, it was: In an advertisement for e.l.f. Cosmetics, Jennifer Coolidge sat in front of a vanity packed with beauty products, wearing a silk flamingo-pink dress and sporting pointy, glitter-flecked nails. She spread e.l.f.'s Power Grip Primer on her face and proceeded to get stuck to everything in sight to demonstrate its sticky qualities.

While the commercial was a fleeting moment of whimsy, I kept replaying it in my head. A makeup commercial…during the Super Bowl? Among the testosterone-fueled spots for Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, Jennifer Coolidge was swathed in fuchsia and speaking directly to a female audience. In 2024, the momentum grew. Last year, four beauty brands—e.l.f., Dove, NYX, and CeraVe—all advertised in the Super Bowl. It was an unprecedented number, according to Ad Age. These ads didn't just stand out, they seemed to be a litmus test for the culture at large. The beauty industry is officially betting on sports.

Some may try to chalk this up to the Taylor Swift effect, but that doesn't give women—and their varied, multifaceted interests—enough credit. I come from a sports family and grew up thinking of the Super Bowl as a holiday. As a kid, my brother and I painted our faces if our team was playing and my dad made wings, but when I moved out of my parents' house, I found myself tuning into the big game less and less. My interest piqued again in my late twenties, and I can't really pinpoint why (maybe it had something to do with social media, or my friends watching games, or yes, even Taylor Swift). Regardless, the fact that I watched the past two Super Bowls from start to finish was a cultural indicator in and of itself. I was one of 58.5 million women who tuned in—Super Bowl LVIII drew the most female viewers of any Super Bowl ever, with a 9 percent increase from the previous year. The beauty industry is taking notice." title="Two years ago during the Super Bowl, while I was mindlessly eating buffalo chicken dip and guacamole, something caught my eye that I wasn't expecting. "Is this…a makeup commercial?!" I asked incredulously, turning up the volume on my TV to be sure. Indeed, it was: In an advertisement for e.l.f. Cosmetics, Jennifer Coolidge sat in front of a vanity packed with beauty products, wearing a silk flamingo-pink dress and sporting pointy, glitter-flecked nails. She spread e.l.f.'s Power Grip Primer on her face and proceeded to get stuck to everything in sight to demonstrate its sticky qualities.

While the commercial was a fleeting moment of whimsy, I kept replaying it in my head. A makeup commercial…during the Super Bowl? Among the testosterone-fueled spots for Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, Jennifer Coolidge was swathed in fuchsia and speaking directly to a female audience. In 2024, the momentum grew. Last year, four beauty brands—e.l.f., Dove, NYX, and CeraVe—all advertised in the Super Bowl. It was an unprecedented number, according to Ad Age. These ads didn't just stand out, they seemed to be a litmus test for the culture at large. The beauty industry is officially betting on sports.

Some may try to chalk this up to the Taylor Swift effect, but that doesn't give women—and their varied, multifaceted interests—enough credit. I come from a sports family and grew up thinking of the Super Bowl as a holiday. As a kid, my brother and I painted our faces if our team was playing and my dad made wings, but when I moved out of my parents' house, I found myself tuning into the big game less and less. My interest piqued again in my late twenties, and I can't really pinpoint why (maybe it had something to do with social media, or my friends watching games, or yes, even Taylor Swift). Regardless, the fact that I watched the past two Super Bowls from start to finish was a cultural indicator in and of itself. I was one of 58.5 million women who tuned in—Super Bowl LVIII drew the most female viewers of any Super Bowl ever, with a 9 percent increase from the previous year. The beauty industry is taking notice." height="auto">

Finding the Beauty in Sports

Two years ago during the Super Bowl, while I was mindlessly eating buffalo chicken dip and guacamole, something caught my eye that I wasn't expecting. "Is this…a makeup commercial?!" I asked incredulously, turning up the volume on my TV to be sure. Indeed, it was: In an advertisement for e.l.f. Cosmetics, Jennifer Coolidge sat in front of a vanity packed with beauty products, wearing a silk flamingo-pink dress and sporting pointy, glitter-flecked nails. She spread e.l.f.'s Power Grip Primer on her face and proceeded to get stuck to everything in sight to demonstrate its sticky qualities.

While the commercial was a fleeting moment of whimsy, I kept replaying it in my head. A makeup commercial…during the Super Bowl? Among the testosterone-fueled spots for Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, Jennifer Coolidge was swathed in fuchsia and speaking directly to a female audience. In 2024, the momentum grew. Last year, four beauty brands—e.l.f., Dove, NYX, and CeraVe—all advertised in the Super Bowl. It was an unprecedented number, according to Ad Age. These ads didn't just stand out, they seemed to be a litmus test for the culture at large. The beauty industry is officially betting on sports.

Some may try to chalk this up to the Taylor Swift effect, but that doesn't give women—and their varied, multifaceted interests—enough credit. I come from a sports family and grew up thinking of the Super Bowl as a holiday. As a kid, my brother and I painted our faces if our team was playing and my dad made wings, but when I moved out of my parents' house, I found myself tuning into the big game less and less. My interest piqued again in my late twenties, and I can't really pinpoint why (maybe it had something to do with social media, or my friends watching games, or yes, even Taylor Swift). Regardless, the fact that I watched the past two Super Bowls from start to finish was a cultural indicator in and of itself. I was one of 58.5 million women who tuned in—Super Bowl LVIII drew the most female viewers of any Super Bowl ever, with a 9 percent increase from the previous year. The beauty industry is taking notice.